A former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, has said the Labour Party was formed to promote the interests of the Nigerian workers and pensioners.
Wabba stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
According to him, the Labour Party was formed by the NLC as a platform for members of the union to exercise and defend their rights.
This was contrary to claims by the embattled LP Chairman, Julius Abure, that the party is not answerable to the Congress.
Wabba said, “First and foremost, the Labour Party was formed by the NLC, in the realisation of a clear objective in the Constitution of the NLC.
“Under Article 3 and Item 1, the major objective of the NLC is to promote, defend and advance the economic, political, and social rights and well-being of Nigerian workers and pensioners.
“We own the Labour Party; it was formed under the leadership of Pascal Bafyau, as Party for Social Democracy. Under Adams, organs decided to change the name to the Labour Party, and the first chairman was S.O.Z Ejiofor who later handed over to Dan Anyanwu.
“So, the essence of forming the party is to make sure that workers, pensioners, farmers, can be able to have a platform to exercise their rights, which is enshrined in Section 40 of the Constitution.
“The party was formed by NLC, and registered by NLC. It’s like you built a house, you got a C-of-O, then you rented the apartment, so you must have an interest in how the property is managed.”
Recall that on Wednesday, members of the NLC stormed the party’s national secretariat, to protest the LP’s national convention planned for the end of the month.
The protesting NLC members also demanded the sacking of Abure as the party’s Chairman.
