We’re vindicated—Imo Govt
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday admitted that its main goal of shutting down Imo State is to ensure that Saturday’s governorship election does not hold in the state.
“Would the world end if the election doesn’t hold in Imo?”, Comrade Uchenna Ekwe, NLC’s Head of International Relations, thundered in the Channels Television program.
When reminded by one of the panelists that the NLC would be violating the constitution of Nigeria if it disrupted the election, Ekwe said it was not significant. “We don’t believe anything good would come out of the election “, he insisted.
The NLC had started a total shutdown of Imo from midnight Tuesday while it slated a nationwide strike for November 14.
But Comrade Uchenna Ekwe said there was no going back on the Imo shut down, even if it violated the constitution or not.
He also said NLC was not interested in the timing of the strike so long as it yields the result of getting Gov. Hope Uzodimma to do what Labour requested.
On the subsisting court order barring NLC from embarking on any strike, Comrade Ekwe said they do not recognize any interim injunction.
Reacting to the stand of the NLC that their goal is to disrupt the election, even if it means violating the constitution, the Imo State Government said it has been vindicated that the NLC is partisan.
According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, Nigerians need no further proof that the strike in Imo is politically motivated.
“Every keen observer of the happenings in Imo knows that the NLC is part of the opposition in Imo State, hence this strike.” “What more proof do we need when a member of the NEC of the NLC publicly acknowledges that the goal of the strike is to stop the election on Saturday?”
Hon. Emelumba called on all security agencies to be watchful to ensure that NLC doesn’t stop the election under the guise of a protest. He said the brazen attempt to subvert the Constitution of Nigeria is an affront to the nation and should not be ignored. He, however, expressed satisfaction that the police in Imo had already issued a statement warning those attempting to disrupt the election to desist from such an unconstitutional act.
