ABUJA – The 11th National Delegates’ Conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress ended abruptly yesterday as aggrieved parties hijacked and smashed ballot boxes while voting for the incoming executives of the union was still ongoing.
Journalists covering the conference report that the International Conference Centre, venue of event was thrown into confusion as delegates ran for dear lives.
The conference, which began Tuesday, was organised to elect new leaders for the country’s central labour union, following the expiration of tenure of the current executives.
Some aggrieved contestants and their supporters suddenly became violent, hijacked and destroyed the ballot boxes.
The quick intervention of the police restored peace to the environment while the delegates were sent away.
Meanwhile, the outgoing leadership of the congress which was not dissolved before the commencement of the voting process, has called for an emergency meeting of the National Administrative Council, to deliberate on the crisis and resolve it.
Reports say that Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, the General Secretary of the NLC and convener of the NAC meeting, told journalists that issues arising from the inconclusive election would be discussed.
As at the time of filling this report, the NAC meeting is still ongoing at the NLC headquarters
It was learnt that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC would also hold immediately after the NAC meeting with a view to implementing the decisions reached.
The three contenders vying for the NLC Presidency are comrades Joe Ajaero, the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Igwe Achese, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Ayuba Wabba, National President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria.
The eight-year tenure of the outgoing NLC President Comrade Waheed Omar ended on February 6.