NLC urges aggrieved parties to challenge defeat in court

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), on Wednesday, urged aggrieved parties in the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections to take their cases to the court of law.

Joe Ajaero, president of the NLC, gave the charge on when he led national executives of the congress on a visit to the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) office in Lagos. Ajaero said losers in the elections have the right to seek a redress in court or even protest if they think that the contest was not transparent, free and fair.

Mahmoud Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), early Wednesday morning, announced Bola Tinubu, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s president-elect from the Saturday’s poll.

Some political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have, however, rejected the outcome of the election. The parties say the poll was rigged in favour of Tinubu, who secured 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar (PDP), and Peter Obi (LP), who garnered 6,984,520, and 6,101,533 votes to place second and third positions, respectively.

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The electoral body and its chairman, Yakubu, have come under heavy criticism by the Nigerian public for abandoning the provision the Electoral Act 2022 that empowers them to upload election results real-time from polling units across the country on INEC result viewing portal (Irev)

“The elections have come and gone. If you ask me, the courts are there for people to take their grievances. People can equally protest if they don’t like what is happening, they can adopt any legal measure,” said Ajaero.

He hailed the performance of Labour Party candidates, scoring them high in the presidential and national assembly elections, adding that labour now has a voice in the national assembly.

According to the NLC president, deliberations on the floor of the national assembly will be robust as the candidates will contribute to improve the welfare of the masses.

“The Labour Party candidates have performed creditably; they have come up to be the voice of the masses in the national assembly.

Ajaero, who said the Labour Party would be reorganised to take over leadership in the country, called on workers to be patient.