Maritime chief withdraws from NLC chairmanship race

The President of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Anthony Nted, on Thursday announced his withdrawal from the rescheduled NLC chairmanship election.
Nted, who is also the Vice-President of the NLC, said that he did not want his name or his union to be associated “with illegalities going on in the name of election”.
Meanwhile, the labour correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria learnt that another Vice-President of the NLC, Issa Aremu, has re-entered the race to vie for the position of Deputy President.
It will be recalled that Aremu withdrew from the election at the 11th delegates’ conference, citing “serious infractions in basic conference business procedures”.
He told NAN in a telephone interview that his re-entry into the race was informed by the need to show understanding, peace and accommodation in the interest of Nigerian workers.
Aremu said stakeholders had stepped into issues causing crisis in the NLC and that substantial part of the anomalies had been corrected.
Meanwhile, hundreds of workers staged a protest over what they called injustice in the nomination of delegates to the election.
Nted condemned the circumstances that led to the botched election last month, saying that the NLC had degenerated to a body where ethnic, tribal and selfish interests were foisted on members.
He said: “What is happening now is a shame.
“I cannot associate my name or that of my union with this shame where NLC is being reduced to ethnic and tribal organisation in a desperate effort to cover only God knows what.
“Why will some unions bring in delegates from only one section of the country?
“This is pure fraud.
“It has never been associated with trade union.”
Nted expressed fears that the NLC was about to be taken over by unpatriotic people, wondering what example would labour leaders would show to politicians and other people.