(He) has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and then an interested party in local politics.”
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – Following Wednesday assault of the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, by armed men in Owerri, Governor Hope Uzodimma has accused accused him of interfering in the state’s politics.
Uzodimma, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is seeking reelection in the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
Speaking while receiving the APC governorship flag from President Bola Tinubu at Aso Rock Villa on Thursday, November 2, Uzodimma explained: “What has happened in this ugly coincidence is that the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress is from Imo State and has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and then an interested party in local politics.”
Ajaero, during a press briefing earlier in the week, had said the rights of Imo workers were being violated by the state government and called on members of the union in the state to prepare for a total strike.
Reacting, the Imo state government, said the presence of Ajaero, in Owerri, the state capital, to lead a protest was in defiance of a court order.
Ajaero was said to have been arrested by men of the Imo State Police Command while leading a protest in the state on Wednesday.
But the command said he was only rescued from a mob and put in protective custody, while organised labour accused Uzodimma of conspiring with the state’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Barde, to “abduct” their president.