NLC delegate conference ends in crisis

The National Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Labour Conference ended in crisis as delegates failed to elect a new leader for the foremost labour centre.

Delegates, who converged on the International Conference Centre, Abuja, to elect a new President to succeed the outgoing President of the congress, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, engaged one another in fisticuffs and used the chairs at the venue as weapons to combat each other.

Trouble started deep into the election on Wednesday night when some discrepancies were observed in ballot papers that were used for the then seemingly peaceful elections.

Some of the delegates felt that the ballot papers were deliberately printed to facilitate the rigging of the election in favour of one of the candidates.

The candidates for the prestigious position of President of the NLC are the National President, Medical and Health Workers Union, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, who is also the National Treasurer of the NLC; the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Mr. Joe Ajaero, who is also a Deputy President of the NLC; and the President, Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Mr. Achese Igwe.

According to the aggrieved unionists, some of the ballot papers had the name of Mr. Ayuba Wabba, in three places; others had the name of Mr. Joe Ajaero in two places; others had no name of Ajaero at all while some with the name of Ajaero had no serial number.

The delegates from the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers were said to have called attention to the discrepancies in the ballot papers.

The ensuing argument between the delegates loyal to Wabba an Ajaero, threw the venue of the election into pandemonium as the unionists shouted at each other until they started throwing chairs.

Delegates, who claimed to be fighting for fairness in the conduct of the election, scattered the ballot boxes and became uncontrollable.

Wabba seemed to have brighter chances of being elected as the next President of the congress until Tuesday evening when the NUPENG President, Igwe, stepped down for Ajaero and declared support for him which made the election more competitive.

Delegates loyal to Ajaero are of the view that the organisers of the election might have allowed deliberate errors in the ballot papers to pave the way for the election of Wabba in the ballot papers.

The inability to elect a replacement for Omar as President of the NLC has plunged the congress into a constitutional crisis as the tenure of the former President has lapsed without an elected successor.

The leadership of the congress has called a meeting of the National Administrative Council meeting to decide on how to solve the impasse.

Our correspondent, who was at the Labour House Headquarters of the NLC at the Central area, Abuja, observed that the meeting was ongoing as of the time of filing this report.

With the outcome of the2015 Delegate Conference, the NLC is heading for a major division involving its major affiliate unions contributing huge sums of money into its purse.