The Leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC has blamed the disruption of voting during its delegates Congress on Thursday on “a printing error”.
“The voting process, the last item on the agenda, commenced peacefully and in an orderly manner on Wednesday, February 11, and lasted through the night. However, on the morning of Thursday, February 12 at 8:45, a printing error was spotted in a few ballot papers by way of duplication of names. This error affected four candidates, two each from opposing camps”,said statement by Dr Peter Ozo-Eson ,general secretary .
The statement recalled that the 11th Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress held from February 8 to February 11, 2015 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja and was attended by 3, 119 delegates from 43 affiliate unions, the biggest in the history of the Congress.
It also recalled that the opening ceremony attracted government functionaries, international guests, captains of industries, members of the diplomatic corps, politicians, students, workers and veterans of Labour including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim (who represented President Jonathan); Governor of Edo State, Mr Adams Oshiomhole; the Minister of Labour, the APC Presidential Candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, first President of NLC; Comrade Ali Chiroma second President of NLC, and others.
Ozon-Eson noted that the Conference received Financial Report,the 10th Delegates Conference Report, and the NEC/ Secretariat Report. In line with Conference proceedings, reports were received from the Credentials Committee, Motions Committee and Constitution Review Committee
It also received solidarity messages from the government, fraternal organisations, members of the diplomatic corps, international guests and workers.
NLC General Secretary described the printing error which led to the disruption of voting as regrettable. “As regrettable as this error by the Credential Committee is, its degree was insignificant and could have been resolved amicably by way of vote invalidation. However, this was not to be as some delegates who held the view that the entire process might have been corrupted, reacted sharply. This led to the suspension of the voting process.”
“The National Administrative Council of the Congress swiftly met a few hours later and resolved to convene a meeting of the National Executive Council on Wednesday, February 18, for the purpose of fixing a new date to take the vote.
“As painful as this unfortunate disruption is, we are determined to work with all those concerned and the organs and friends of Congress to find a way to resolve the empasse as quickly as possible and without the current leadership exceeding the constitutionally mandated time limit of four years.
“Congress uses this opportunity to express its gratitude to those that graced the conference. It appeals to members of the Congress to be calm and vigilant.It expresses its appreciation to the media for a comprehensive coverage” the statement said.
