The crisis rocking the Edo State Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has taken a fresh twist as a member of the caretaker committee, Mike Ochei, announced his resignation on Sunday.

Ochei, who is also the state chairman of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, was part of the caretaker committee headed by Prof. Monday Igbafen, inaugurated by the national leadership of the NLC on August 28.

His resignation comes against the backdrop of resistance from a rival faction led by Bernard Egwakhide, who is said to enjoy the support of the Edo State Government.

The Edo State House of Assembly had earlier passed a resolution urging the NLC to shelve the planned inauguration of the caretaker committee and recognise Egwakhide’s leadership. However, the national body dissolved the Egwakhide-led executive and installed the caretaker team.

Explaining his decision to step aside, Ochei said he was never interested in serving on the committee.

“I am the state chairman of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, and we called a meeting last week where members of my union said they don’t want to be part of that arrangement, and I should step down. I have since stepped down from the caretaker committee”, he said.

He further alleged that the caretaker committee was designed to favour certain elements within the NLC.

“I was coerced into the caretaker committee as I was never interested. The committee was set up to favour some disgruntled elements in the union to continue to remain in power by proxy, which is not in the best interest of the state NLC,” he added.

Reacting, the Acting Chairman of the Edo NLC, Bernard Egwakhide, described Ochei’s resignation as evidence that the caretaker committee lacks legitimacy.

“It just shows that the national president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, is trying to force leaders on us. We are all on the same page in the state. Professor Igbafen, whom Ajaero brought, has never attended any of our meetings before; he has never been part of the NLC in the state; he was picked. We have one formidable union in the state.

“Ideally, if a new leadership comes up, they call a SEC meeting to know if they are accepted but till now, they have not been able to do that because they know that they have not been accepted. The National Secretariat is just threatening unions that they must listen to him, and that is not the way to go.”

But in his response, caretaker committee chairman, Prof. Monday Igbafen, dismissed Egwakhide’s claims and suggested Ochei was pressured into resigning.

“Comrade Ochei was threatened with impeachment, and that was why he resigned. These people who are parading themselves as the NLC leaders in the state, can they attend the NLC NEC meeting? Definitely no. We have been saying there is no need to escalate the crisis in Edo. The two factions had issues, which is why our committee was set up to reconcile. They are just inciting members of the union against their leaders.

“These same people are also feeding the government with information that is not correct. We have been reaching out to every member of the union because we are supposed to be one body. Our mandate is to resolve the crisis and unite every union in the state.”

The Edo State NLC has been engulfed in leadership tussles for several months, mirroring broader tensions within the national labour movement. The crisis escalated in late August when the NLC national leadership, under President Joe Ajaero, dissolved the Egwakhide-led state executive and appointed a caretaker committee headed by Prof. Igbafen.

The decision drew sharp resistance from the Edo State Government and the State House of Assembly, which openly backed Egwakhide and urged the NLC to halt the inauguration of the committee.

The NLC, one of Nigeria’s most influential labour federations, has in recent times grappled with factionalism in various states, raising concerns about its cohesion ahead of key national struggles over workers’ welfare, minimum wage implementation, and fuel subsidy policies.

The resignation of Ochei further exposes the cracks within the Edo NLC, with fears that prolonged infighting could weaken the union’s ability to represent workers in the state effectively. (The PUNCH)