Edo NLC Caretaker Committee Member Ochei Resigns, Says He was Coerced Into Arrangement

Hendrix Oliomogbe 

17 days after the inauguration of the caretaker committee of the Edo State council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), a member of the committee, Comrade Ochei Oyenbuchukwu Mike  has resigned his appointment.

Comrade Ochei, the chairman of the Edo State branch of National Union of Textiles and Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Comrade Ochei tendered his resignation from the committee which was inaugurated by on Thursday, August 28, 2025 in the Edo State capital of Benin City.

Comrade Oluwole Adeleye Sunday had sworn in the Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen headed five man committee, which was set up by the President of the NLC, Comrade Joseph Ajaero and tasked them to resolve all issues and ensure that new executives are elected.

The Edo NUTGTWN chairman said Sunday, August 14, 2025 in Benin City that he was never part of the caretaker committee arrangement but was coerced into it, noting that he later discovered that it was a ploy by some disgruntled elements in the union to continue to remain in power by proxy which does not mean well for Edo State.

He said: "I never agreed to be a part of the said caretaker committee but was coerced into the contraption. I later discovered that it was a ploy by some disgruntled elements in the union to continue to remain in power by proxy which does not mean well for Edo State."

Recalled that the leadership of the State Administrative Council (SAC) and State Executive Council (SEC) of Edo council of the NLC had in a statement rejected the dissolution of the executive council by Comrade Ajaero, emphazing that the proper thing he should have done was to call for immediate election instead of resorting to the desperate action of dissolving the executive council and replacing it with a caretaker committee.

The statement insisted: "Comrade Ajaero has no right to dissolve the executive council of Edo NLC in place of a caretaker committee.  

"We are calling for immediate election to the different offices. All the affiliates of NLC in Edo State have met and firmly resolved that anything other than immediate election is not acceptable to us."

According to them, the caretaker committee is orchestrated by Chief Odion Olaye, the impeached state chairman of the council who  once threatened that "Edo will burn" if a particular politician does not win the last governorship election in Edo State.