NLC And Its Disrupted Election

The inconclusive election is embarrassing. The Labour Congress needs to recover its focus fast

The show of shame that emanated from the disrupted election of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the recent delegate conference in Abuja speaks volumes about the attitude of Nigerians towards elections. It was a disgraceful parody of how those who seek to “serve” the public in our country behave, with representatives of Nigerian workers acting like overgrown kids – smashing ballot boxes and throwing out ballot papers. It is all the more tragic that the same organisation that on February 3 this year sent out a strong statement about the now-postponed general elections in the country is now in a quandary over its own election.

The cause of the fracas, as reported in the media, was that some delegates observed the duplication of name of candidates on the ballot booklet. Yet what the NLC has now called a printing error affected mainly two presidential contestants: Comrade Ayuba Wabba, Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) and Comrade Joe Ajaero, General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE). Some NUEE delegates allegedly backed by others from the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) whose president, Igwe Achese, had stepped down for Ajaero, resorted to smashing the ballot boxes. There are now speculations that the said ballot papers may have been planted by some elements within, in a pre-determined move to disrupt the process.

It is instructive that before the conference, there had been attempts by some of the candidates to campaign along ethnic and religious lines, a divisive tactic often employed by politicians in contemporary Nigeria. It is even more unfortunate that an issue that could simply have been resolved through invalidation of votes resulted into a violent controversy that has now put into question the ability of the NLC to manage its own affairs. It also underscores the challenge of conducting credible elections in our country.

In a mildly worded statement, the General Secretary of the Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo Esan, said last week that the NLC is “determined to work with all those concerned and the organs and friends of Congress to find a way to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible and without the current leadership exceeding the constitutionally mandated time limit of four years.” While that is important, it is also necessary for the congress to take more decisive actions going forward, if the issues that led to the crisis are to be resolved.

For instance, there are pertinent questions begging for answers: one, who planted the strange ballot booklets, since the credentials committee has said it inspected them upon receipt from the printers? Two, what happens to the delegates who were caught on tape smashing ballot boxes? We ask those questions because what happened in the course of the disrupted election was not totally unexpected. In recent times, the congress has been enmeshed in all manner of scandals.

One, some unions such as the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and others had pulled out of the congress before the matter was eventually settled out of court. Two, the NLC leadership has been struggling to extricate itself from the fall-out of its collaboration with a private housing developer (Kriston Lally EPC), to provide affordable housing for workers. Both parties have accused each other of corruption in a scheme where 3800 workers subscribed to the tune of over N4 billion. The congress has on several occasions had its events disputed by subscribers who continue to demand a refund of their deposits. Three, the outgoing leadership abruptly terminated the appointment of the former General Secretary, Comrade John Odah, resulting in a long drawn court battle.

Given the foregoing, it is obvious that the NLC is faced with some serious internal contradictions. Therefore, the challenge before the congress is not only to conduct a fresh and credible election but also to ensure it begins to restore its damaged reputation. Whoever eventually emerges the NLC president at the end of the current acrimonious exercise has his job already cut for him.

It is unfortunate that an issue that could simply have been resolved through invalidation of votes resulted into a violent controversy that has now put into question the ability of the NLC to manage its own affairs. It also underscores the challenge of conducting credible elections in our country