By Jethro Ibileke
There is palpable tension in the Edo state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), following the alleged removal of the State Chairman, Comrade Odion Olaye.
The embattled chairman was removed Monday evening and was replaced by Comrade Bernard Joman in an acting capacity, pending when according to them, the national leadership of the NLC would conduct a fresh election in the state.
This decision to remove Olaye was reached at a State Executive Committee (SEC) of NLC held at the Labour House in Benin City where 27 out of its 34 affiliate unions affirmed the removal.
But when contacted, Olaye insisted that he remains the chairman of the union till 2027 and that he reserves the right to seek reelection.
Reading the reasons for the decision, the chairman of the Council of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) representing the Auchi Polytechnic and Edo Stage Polytechnic, Osahon Omole, said Olaye had been removed by the court as the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
He added that Olaye refused to comply, just as he said he has allegedly not paid his union dues to the NURTW for over 20 years and the NURTW in a letter NLC dated 4th November 2024 signed by the State Secretary of NURTW, Godwin Aghimien with a copy made available to Vanguard said they have recalled Olaye from representing the union in the NLC having been removed since 2023 and a caretaker already in place.
The NLC leaders also accused Olaye of dragging the labour union into politics with his open identification with a political party in the build-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.