Politics
LP Hits Back At Ajaero Over No Confidence Vote Against Abure
The Labour Party (LP) has told the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero to resign his position if he is so desperate to succeed Julius Abure as chairman of the party.
Last Friday, in a statement titled: “A misadventure in Political Mischief, Mismanagement and Misdemeanor Gone Too Far” the NLC alleged that Abure was running the affairs of the LP as a sole administrator.
The NLC also passed a vote of no confidence on Abure and called for his resignation as chairman of the Labour Party.
“The leadership of the NLC passes a vote of no confidence on Mr. Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party,” the NLC said.
“We demand his resignation immediately and we demand the constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive national convention of the Labour Party”, it added.
Reacting through a statement issue last Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Obiora Ifoh, the LP asked the NLC President to resign and throw his hat in the ring at the forthcoming national convention of the party later this month.
“The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to a press release titled ‘A misadventure in Political Mischief, mismanagement and Misdemeanor Gone Too Far’ written by the NLC’s political commission as an agent of the Nigeria Labour Congress,” the statement reads.
“The NLC letter did not come to us as a surprise or a shock, it was long expected before now, having known that the NLC was going to engage itself on this misadventure.
“At this point, the leadership of the party wants to ask the NLC, what exactly do they want? If Joe Ajaero is interested in the leadership of the party, he is therefore advised to resign as the President of the NLC and join in the contest for the National Chairmanship of the party that is scheduled for the convention on the 27th of March, 2024.
“We must note that undue interference by the Nigeria Labour Congress on the affairs of the party has become worrisome and it has become needful to emphasise here the distinction that the Labour Party has a life of its own different from that of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
“In fact, the 1999 Constitution states clearly that once a political party is registered, it has a life of its own whereby it can run its own affairs without any interference.
“It will shock Nigerians to know that members and officials of the NLC are not even card carrying members of the Labour Party. All over the country, NLC members have been found to be supporting either the APC or the PDP.”
The LP urged Ajaero to emulate past leaders of the NLC and also learn from other democracies across the world on how labour movements are giving their support to labour parties.
“We equally want to advise Joe Ajero to emulate leadership of Ayuba Waba, Olaleye Quadri and Osifo in working closely with the party,” the statement added.
“We therefore urge the NLC to go and learn from other developing democracies across the world, how the Labour movements have given support to Labour Parties across the world in Australia, Brazil amongst others who have captured power in their countries.
“There is need for us to come together and collectively fight the ruling class that has held the nation down for so long and has impoverished the nation. It makes no sense for us to be fighting ourselves.
“We have consulted with our stakeholders and the consultation is ongoing and we will continue to consult until the March 27, when the new leadership of the party will emerge.
“We have advised the NLC before now that party politics is played at the Ward level and not at the National level.
“If NLC is interested in taking the leadership of the party, they should go and engage in the mass mobilisation of its members to join the party at the grassroots”, it further said.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.