* Slams FG for issuing entry visa to Drew Dovey, turning round later to label him terrorist
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC,) Comrade Joe Ajaero, has accused those he described as desperate politicians of conniving with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to destabilize the Labour Party (LP), a political party, he reminded the public, was registered by the workers union.
Speaking when he received the Giant of Women in Media, led by Clementina Olomu, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja, the FCT, earlier today, Ajaero also slammed the Federal Government for issuing a visa to a European who was labeled a terrorist.
Ajaero, who spoke on a plethora of issues bordering on the State of the nation, said: “The wind will blow, and mind you, the wind blowing will not take away the principles and ideology of the party. When you take a look at what all of them are doing, jumping from one party to another, it is obvious that some of them may go and the party remains.
“The people that have come into the party, were given the charter of workers’ demands. And if they apply them fine, if they do not, they go in vain. A common trend in Nigeria is this idea of people jumping from one political party to the other. If they can’t assimilate the ideology of the party, which a lot of people have already experienced because they were sent to destroy the labor party, such people would get frustrated and leave.
“But the issue is that there won’t be any other labour party outside that one formed by the NLC, no matter how they try, and it is not for me to use the platform to contest office; it is for all Nigerians.”
Ajaero, however, maintained that the idea of forming the party is targeted at the liberal class like teachers, lawyers, doctors, and all that eke out a living working as middle class employees and professionals.
“I can tell you that around the 50s, it used to be called workers’ and farmers’ party. And these are the working class, the ‘talakawas’ that were supposed to be taken care of. But if you watch, people are complaining about the ideologies of the IMF and the World Bank, which can not work for us, and we need to develop our ideology. If you have a market ideology that will impoverish the people, how do you drive it down to the workers’ organization, to the NLC for example? If the leadership does support privatization, deregulation and market forces, such a person won’t perform because he is no longer working for the masses.
“These are issues that are very critical in identifying with the Labour Party. Politicians may come and go, but the Labour Party remains because it is an ideology that can not die.
“People think that they are destroying the Labour Party. But, it is a lie because they are going nowhere. After all, if they form their executive tomorrow, we will still tell them who owns the party.”
Further commenting on the decision of INEC not to recognize Senator Nenadi Usman’s caretaker Committee set up in Umuahia by LP stakeholders, Ajaero accused INEC of playing politics with the whole process, which was endorsed by the court to bring a lasting solution to the party.
“I can tell anyone that INEC is playing politics with the LP. I can tell you that INEC knew that the NLC was represented at the Umuahia stakeholders meeting, and INEC knew that the consent judgement was between the NLC and another group and that the consent judgement was accepted by the Julius Abure-led group,” he disclosed.
“I can also say categorically that any Labour Party assembly that does not include NLC cannot work because they have a constitution on how things are to be done in the party. So, if INEC was the one that facilitated this and the consent judgement, which INEC has seen would actualize the consent judgement as agreed by all stakeholders and endorsed by court, then it means that INEC is playing politics by refusing to abide by the outcome of the Umuahia meeting.
“And that is a fact because the INEC Chairman knows this much. INEC, Abure and his group were invited to the Umuahia meeting. All governorship candidates and the 2023 presidential candidates were there; members of the National Assembly, Senators, and House of Representatives Members were also there. Then, who is INEC to say no to the outcome? It means INEC is playing politics with the Labour Party.”
Comrade Ajaero also warned that third columnists should not distort the electoral processes in Nigeria.
“And I keep asking, who is INEC waiting to be in that meeting to recognize it? Even the meeting set aside the National Transition Committee LP-NTC to be neutral just to find a way for the party to move forward,” Ajaero stressed.
Emphasizing the main reason for leadership crisis in the party, the NLC president said: “The case we have is that Julius Abure declared himself a permanent Chairman of the party after spending a one-year extension he pleaded for before the NLC and other stakeholders, and after that, he refused to honor the agreement, who does that? So, if INEC should sit on the fence this time, there is no need to continue this process.”
Speaking on Drew Dovey, the Briton whom the police invaded the NLC Secretariat on the 7th of last month, that is August 7, to arrest on charges of terrorism and plot to overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu, the NLC President wondered how the the federal government which granted the entrance visa to the foreigner whom it also gave office accommodation at the Labour House years ago would now turn round to label a terrorist.
“Can you imagine a man whom the government issued a visa to come into Nigeria over nine years ago and the same government officials planted him in the NLC building to be spying on us, is the same person the government now says is a terrorist harbored by NLC,” Ajaero sneered.
“The person who was here on a mission for either World Bank or whatever, working for some of them in government. Suddenly, the NLC that did not issue him a visa and residential permit is now being vilified. And that is the question Nigerians should ask.
“The man has no right of tenancy here. There is no contractual agreement between him and the NLC. The place was rented out years ago before I came into leadership. It was given to the defunct Democratic Socialist Movement, which I suppose the man might be part of. It was this organization that used to publish one magazine on workers’ rights. During those days, the office was freely given to the association to use. The man sells books there, mostly related to the labour struggle, and the name of that bookshop was reminiscent of Nigerian workers killed in iva Alley Enugu in 1949. I have gone into the office once to buy books because the man has a collection of books on power struggles.
“So, tell me how the office has transformed into a terrorist group hideout and when they went into investigation, they discovered that this man must have been here for over 20 years”.
On the minimum wage, he said that the discussion is ongoing as the government has not yet addressed the issue of percentages as regards steps in grade levels.
He further clarified that the government should be able to come out clean on the proper calculations on staff increment and not a bracket amount of 70,000, which does not represent minimum wage negotiation.
