Follow Us on Google
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has warned Nigerian workers and citizens at large against selling their votes during elections, cautioning that they cannot compromise their political choices and subsequently expect organised labour to fight governments they helped bring to power.
TUC president, Festus Osifo, gave the warning while urging workers to demonstrate greater political responsibility as the country approaches another electioneering period. He stressed that the future of workers’ welfare depends largely on the decisions they make at the ballot box.
Osifo, who was represented at the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria’s conference by the president of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro, said workers must recognise the power of their votes and use them to protect their collective interests.
He urged Nigerian workers to rise above partisan sentiments and make informed political choices, warning against compromising their votes for immediate personal gains at the expense of their long-term welfare.
According to him, workers must not sell their votes and later turn to labour leaders to confront governments whose emergence they had facilitated through their electoral decisions.
Osifo maintained that political participation must go beyond party loyalty, insisting that workers should hold political leaders accountable and support candidates and policies capable of advancing their economic and social interests.
Meanwhile, Olabiyi-Agoro used the occasion to advocate reconciliation between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the TUC, calling on both labour centres to resolve their differences and rebuild a stronger working relationship.
He proposed the development of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two organisations to institutionalise cooperation, harmonise their positions and strengthen their collective response to policies affecting Nigerian workers.
Other News
Olabiyi-Agoro expressed concern that the continued division between the two labour centres could weaken the labour movement, arguing that their disagreements should never be allowed to undermine the interests of the Nigerian workforce.
He said it would be disappointing for the Federal Government to watch the two major labour centres remain divided when their strength lies in their ability to speak with one voice on issues affecting workers’ welfare.
The PENGASSAN president expressed optimism that the NLC and TUC would eventually overcome their differences and unite to challenge policies inimical to workers’ interests, particularly the Federal Government’s neoliberal economic policies.
Using an illustrative analogy, he said: “Just as water naturally finds its way into a common channel, the NLC and TUC will eventually come together.”
He argued that unity would transform the labour centres into a more formidable force, capable of defending workers’ rights and providing stronger resistance to policies that threaten their livelihoods.
Olabiyi-Agoro also stressed the importance of harmonising positions before engaging the government, noting that disagreements over specific issues, including the N70,000 transportation allowance, should not automatically be interpreted as opposition to workers’ welfare.
Drawing from his experience as a former TUC chairman in Oyo State, he recalled that cooperation between the two labour centres had previously delivered positive results for workers, reinforcing the need to restore that spirit of solidarity.
He therefore called on labour leaders and members across the country to embrace dialogue, set aside institutional differences and prioritise the common interests of the workforce, warning that a divided labour movement would struggle to confront the challenges facing Nigerian workers.
