The Labour Party has extolled the virtues of the late General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, and said he played several important roles in the struggle for the sustenance and deepening of Nigeria’s democracy.
Ugboaja died on Thursday at the age of 60. And Labour Party in a statement on Friday by National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said he helped in the formation of the party.
“Comrade Ugboaja was a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) that approved the formation of the Party for Social Democracy (PSD) in 2003, which later metamorphosed into the Labour Party in 2004.
“He subsequently rose to become the Deputy National Secretary of the party and also served as National Secretary of the NLC Political Commission,” Labour Party said in the statement.
According to the party, the late General Secretary played a pivotal role in the relationship that currently exists between the Labour Party and the organised labour movement, particularly the NLC.
“He actively participated and made invaluable contributions to several meetings and deliberations that culminated in the birth of our new party Constitution,” it added.
The party described Ugboaja’s death as “a painful void not only in the labour movement but also in the Labour Party family.”
“Comrade Ugboaja was a strong unionist, a committed democrat and a pillar of support to the current leadership of the Labour Party,” the statement added, and said his invaluable contributions to the growth and development of a political platform whose birth he actively participated in, would be sorely felt.
It stated that as a member of the defunct National Constitutional Reform Conferences of 2005 and 2014, the nation will continue to remember Comrade Ugboaja’s immense contributions in shaping the final reports of the two conferences.
“He was also a Director of the Alliance for Credible Elections, where he championed a national campaign between 2007 and 2010 for electoral reforms.
“The campaign contributed to the process that culminated in the establishment of the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee by the then President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua,” the party stated.
