The former Vice President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Isah Aremu, on Tuesday in Kaduna, described the immediate past president of the NLC, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, as a failed leader.
Aremu, who is the General Secretary of the National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, said Omar’s inability to conduct a successful delegate conference election had made him a failed leader.
He said 22 unions, dissatisfied with the conduct of the March 12 election, which produced Dr. Ayuba Wabba as NLC president, would hold another special delegate conference this Saturday in Lagos as a way of restoring the dignity of the union.
Aremu contested as the Deputy President of the union and was defeated.
According him, the conduct of the rescheduled election was marred with irregularities.
He further argued that under the watchful eyes of Mr. Omar, the election faced an unacceptable disregard for set rules.
Aremu alleged that the entire process was cumbersome and not transparent, especially with sorting and counting, which were opened to manipulation.
The labour leader, who spoke to journalists at the Textile Workers’ House, Kaduna, said the immediate past NLC president contributed largely to the irregularities that marred the outcome of the election.
In attendance at the briefing were principal officers of National Union of Electricity Employees, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.
The former NLC boss said, “Like the previous failed election, there was an unacceptable disregard for rules and regulations in the latest election. Rules were changed midway into the election.
“For instance, the credential committee wrongly validated the ballot papers found in boxes not meant for the position being contested, contrary to the rules. These ballot papers ought to have been invalidated.
“Due to poor electoral arrangement, sorting of ballot papers turned to be cumbersome and opened to manipulation and distortion with non-members of the Credentials Committee dictating the pattern of counting”.
Aremu added, “There was an unacceptable direct involvement of former NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, in the electoral process, particularly in the sorting and counting of votes, well after the dissolution of the former National Administrative Council, he headed against the best practices of the past.
“The tradition has been that once the house is dissolved, outgoing officers return to join their respective unions’ delegates until election is over”.
