3rd June, 2011
Seven industrial unions have condemned the removal of the General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. John Odah, from the post.
The Chairman of Industrial Unions, Mr. Leke Success, while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said the removal should be cancelled.
“We have followed the correspondence between the President of NLC, Mr. Abudulwahed Omar and Odah since the accumulated leave matter started.
“If the president and the congress leadership are sure of the allegations now being pushed unorthodoxly against the general secretary, he has to be given an opportunity to state his own side of the case.
“We cannot be part to this brazen denial of the democratic rights of the chief executive of our organisation who has put 24 years of excellent service to the congress which propelled him to that position for the past decades,†he said.
Success, who was also the National President of National Union of Hotel and Personal Services Workers (NUHPSW), added that their demands were based on the principle that led to the process of the removal.
“It is totally unfair as they do not meet any iota of the internal democratic standards that the NLC is reputed for,†he said.
The unions also said that they had on May 10, written a letter to Omar, demanding clarification for the removal.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Odah was sent on compulsory leave after the delegates’ conference.
The official reason was that he had not gone on leave for many years and needed to attend to his failing health.
While he was on leave, the NLC leadership was said to have discovered certain decision taken by him which the congress claimed were against the rules.
NAN also reports that Omar, while briefing newsmen on June 1, confirmed that the congress had terminated the appointment of the general secretary.
“The Central Working Committee (CWC) and the National Executive Council have not attributed any reason for the termination of the appointment of the general secretary, rather they said that his services “are no longer required in the company.
“The termination of the appointment was part of the re-organisation in the NLC,†Omar said.