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From Idu Jude Abuja
The Labour Party (LP) has lambasted the Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the national Assembly Assembly for abandoning their primary calling of protecting the interest of Nigerians.
This is coming on the heels of yesterday’s fuel pump increase by the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to above N1000 per litre.
The National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Umar Faruk, in a swift reaction yesterday, told the Daily Sun that the unthinkable is happening in Nigeria because there is seemingly a one-party system.
He said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) might continue to dish out bad governance for a long time because those who were elected to play the role of the opposition have compromised and those who are to talk for the common Nigerian labourers have also joined partisan politics.
He said: “We in the Labour Party have always warned the Nigerian public of days like this because we knew it would come and it has come. Again, the problem we are having is lack of credible opposition, and that is the way the government is taking citizens for a ride.
“The Labour Party has always been calling on Nigerians to watch out for the anomalies and ineptitudes and rising misconducts of the APC.”
He said that it has got to the point where Nigerian masses would kneel to beg President Bola Tinubu to show mercy on the people because the opposition has failed to represent them.
“The labour unions that should speak and fight for the Nigerian working class who are the drivers of the economy, are no more vibrant; they have been silenced. They have shown that their interests override those of the common man. And that is why the working population of this country no longer believes in the organised labor union.”
The LP National Secretary observed that it is the duty of the opposition members in the National Assembly to come out and challenge all the absurdities in the system.
“So, what can we do as a political party? What we always do is to speak through those we voted into the National Assembly. Take a look at how all the elected members of the opposition at the National Assembly have been compromised; they have become toothless dogs, and based on that, I can say such has made the country a one-party state.
“This is a very bad situation as far as democracy is concerned, and we need to talk.”
On imminent protest, he affirmed that this is a result of disappointment from the failed members of the National Assembly. “You see, people protest because they have lost hope in all of them who are just there to pocket their money. As it stands, there is no opposition, and Tinubu is just there, moving things without anyone countering him. A country where there seems to be no second party in command, for example, the PDP, the LP, or others. It is the winner-takes-all syndrome. The only place where such things could have taken place is at the legislative chambers. So, we cannot call for protest or anything, instead the voted opposition members should hold the ruling party to account as part of their primary responsibilities.
