N500M BRIBERY SCANDAL: NLC DEBUNKS ALLEGATION

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has debunked reports that there is division within its ranks following an alleged N500 million bribe allegedly taken by its leaders to support government's planned deregulation policy.

A report in the Daily Sun had alerted to a brewing crisis within the NLC that had pitched some affiliate unions against the leadership over an alleged N500 million bribe given to the labour leaders by the Federal Government so that they would not oppose the deregulation of the down-stream sector of the oil industry.

However, a letter signed by Kodizie Acholonu, on behalf of D.D. Dodo, attorneys to the NLC, had cleared the air on the issue, stating that there was never such disagreement or, in fact, any money that changed hands between government and the leadership of the union.

According to the letter the report was fictitious and untrue.

'The contents are fictitious, derisory, untrue and manufactured with a clear, deliberate, malicious and calculated intention to discredit our client, mislead and cause tension in the society and in the country and ultimately result in a weakened and disorganized trade union movement,' the letter stated.

The organization insisted that the claims could mislead the public to think that its leadership consisted of unpatriotic and dishonest persons who collected bribes from the Federal Government. It also denied that there was any rift within the Congress due to the alleged corrupt leadership of NLC.

It reiterated the impeccable character of the persons that constituted the leadership of NLC, noting that their sole concern was for good governance and a better life for the Nigerian people.