Northern youths, led by the Arewa Youths Assembly (AYA), have petitioned the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) to order the immediate arrest of Comrade Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), over alleged plans to derail President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration.
During a press conference held yesterday at Arewa House in Kaduna, the group’s spokesman, Ali Muhammad, accused Ajaero of collaborating with the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to actualize the presidential bid of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), rather than Tinubu, who was declared the election winner.
However, the NLC president dismissed the allegation, calling it “cheap blackmail.”
In their appeal, the Arewa youths further accused Comrade Ajaero of using the NLC as a platform to promote the Biafra movement and to engage in corruption.
We also accuse him of corruption; he and his secretary-general each received a bulletproof SUV automobile worth N1 billion to disrupt the planned workers’ strike against the apex bank’s cashless policy.
We deplore that Ajaero is employing the Igbo-dominated NLC to destroy the country’s economy through strikes.
“The disruption of flights to Imo State on Wednesday, which reportedly cost an airline N700 million, is only a dress rehearsal for what Ajaero and IPOB intend to do to Nigeria’s economy ahead of Tinubu’s inauguration.”
“The invasion of Lagos and Imo airports by IPOB fundamentalists posing as NLC is just the beginning of what Ajaero is planning to prevent Tinubu from taking the oath of office on May 29,” they stated.
It’s a form of cheap blackmail. The NLC President Responds
Meanwhile, Ajaero has denied any plot to derail Tinubu’s inauguration.
Ajaero dismissed the northern teens’ accusation as simple blackmail in a brief response to a LEADERSHIP probe.
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“How is he (Ajaero) collaborating with IPOB?” Blackmail at a low cost. “Is he (Ajaero) working with IPOB for the Owerri strike?” he inquired.
“We regret that this is the first time in NLC history that two people from the same ethnic group (Joe Ajaero from Imo State and secretary-general, Emmanuel Ugboaja from Abia) are in office at the same time, making it easy for them to pursue the Biafra agenda.”
“In the petition, we have drawn the attention of security agencies to Ajaero’s open threats to derail President-elect Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration.” Apart from intimidating the election judges, another critical problem is
