Tension is brewing within the Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) following the alleged removal of its State Chairman, Comrade Odion Olaye.
Olaye was removed on Monday evening and replaced by Comrade Bernard Joman, who will serve in an acting capacity until the national leadership of the NLC conducts a fresh election in the state.
The decision to remove Olaye was made during a State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting at the Labour House in Benin City, where 27 out of the 34 affiliate unions supported his removal.
However, when contacted, Olaye denied the removal, asserting that he remains the chairman of the union until 2027 and reserves the right to seek reelection.
The reasons for Olaye’s removal were presented by Osahon Omole, the Chairman of the Council of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), representing Auchi Polytechnic and Edo State Polytechnic.
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Omole claimed Olaye had been removed by the court as the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and had refused to comply with the court’s ruling.
He also alleged that Olaye had failed to pay his union dues to the NURTW for over 20 years. A letter from the NURTW, dated November 4, 2024, and signed by the State Secretary, Godwin Aghimien, confirmed that Olaye had been removed from representing the union in the NLC and that a caretaker committee had been put in place since 2023.
Additionally, NLC leaders accused Olaye of politicizing the union by openly identifying with a political party during the lead-up to the Edo State governorship election.
He said: “We cannot allow anybody to drag the name of the NLC into politics like was done in the immediate past, we must salvage the union and this is the best time to do so.”
The new acting chairman, Joman, who is of the Amalgamated Union of Public Service Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), promised to restore the “dignity of the NLC to ensure that workers’ welfare remain our priority”
“There is nothing like that (removal), NLC is not a small organization that some people will just sit somewhere and decide. I remain the authentic NLC chairman in Edo State till 2027, nobody has changed me, nobody can go to the roadside and say they removed me, there is no truth in that. They are only trying to hide under the APC to do that,” he said.
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