Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has sought support for Labour Party (LP) national leadership, led by Julius Abure, urging members to be calm over the infighting.

The labour centre urged supporters to back the national chairman in delivering until a convention holds to either elect a new set of officers or have the current executive returned.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, in a statement, pointed out that in the past few weeks, wrangling within the party has spilled into the public space. The internal strife, the statement noted, has resulted in multiple court orders, deployment of undemocratic means to seize party secretariat and use of state institutions to intimidate opponents, all of which are strange to time-tested Labour traditions.

Osifo said: “Some of these disagreements may be a fallout of the party’s spectacular performance in the 2023 general elections and its creation of a desired Third Force to drive the development of the country. While this is understandable, the success of the party has to be well managed to ensure that people elected into executive and legislative positions at state and federal levels deliver on its promises to the electorate.

“LP needs to be a well-ordered party so that it can ensure discipline both within the ranks of those elected on its platform and its general membership. Therefore, while contestations, agitations and internal struggles are acceptable, non-constitutional means and a resort to violence and intimidation are alien to Labour and civilised culture, and will not be tolerated.

“After carefully monitoring the situation, further consultations and review of the multiple court orders, we are aligning fully with LP under the leadership of Julius Abure.”

The Guardian