Abuja – The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Thursday accredited 3,119 delegates to participate in its rescheduled election.
The Chairman, Electoral Committee, Mr Nasir Fagge, who is also the President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said this at the commencement of the voting process.
The election, which is expected to produce new executives for the NLC, had delegates drawn from the 43 affiliate unions that make up the umbrella body.
The NLC recently came under criticism by various stakeholders in Nigeria for alleged politicisation of the union’s activities.
The development has brought unrest among the affiliate unions and other stakeholders in the sector.
The election which began at about 6 p.m. at the Eagle Square, Abuja, commenced under tight security.
The combined security personnel included the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Security Services (DSS).
It would be recalled that the 11th delegates conference, which initially held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, from Feb. 9 to Feb. 12, 2015, was disrupted as some aggrieved delegates smashed ballot boxes, following irregularities noticed during the voting process.
Prior to the election, some affiliate unions had staged a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the NLC, citing what they perceived as lopsided delegates accreditation.
However, before the commencement of voting in the rescheduled election, the outing Abdulwaheed Omar-led NLC executive was dissolved, which was not done during the earlier botched election process.
Meanwhile, Osmond Ugwu from the Nigerian Civil Service Union, Enugu State, who led the protest, said that few delegates were nominated from the South-South and South-East states to participate in the election.
According to him, the development will disenfranchise unionists from the region and give undue advantage to contestants from the North.
Ugwu noted that the NLC and its leadership were going astray as there were no longer democratic structures to foster the unity of Nigerian workers.
He also threatened that they would resist any attempt to go on with the election, if delegates from both regions were not shored up to match those from the north. (NAN)