Edo Guber Poll: Groups protest NLC, TUC endorsement of Oshiomhole

A body known as New Nigeria Parliament, some civil society groups, workers and students in Edo State, on Thursday, protested against the endorsement of Governor Adams Oshiomhole by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for a second term of office.

The protesters, drawn from the 18 local government areas of the state, converged on Benin City for the protest tagged Anti-Labour Endorsement rally.

The president of the New Nigerian Parliament and coordinator of the rally, Pastor Leo Olu Martins, a former Student Union Government (SUG) president in Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, said the youth and civil society groups in the state had totally lost confidence in the NLC and the TUC.

He said the organised labour, which was supposed to create a level playing field for all candidates in the forthcoming governorship election in the state and serve as pressure group along with civil society groups to monitor elections, had now mobilised Edo workers to support a particular candidate.

“Suppose Adams Oshiomhole does not win the election, does that mean that labour had pitched itself as an opposition party to the new administration? Is organised labour, that is civil servants, allowed to openly campaign for a particular candidate of a political party? Why would a government who pays the workers endorse such a political charade when it knows it can dangle the carrot and stick for any erring affiliate union? What are the chances of other candidates who want to approach workers for support? Will they receive such support since they are not in government?”