NLC Rain School: Unrecognized Edo Factional Chairman Walked Out in Uyo
By Isaac Eranga
UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE — Tensions over trade union legitimacy spilled into the ongoing 2026 Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Rain School on its second day, as Bernard Joman Egwakhide—a self-proclaimed chairman of a factional Edo State Council—was publicly confronted and ejected from a key leadership training session at the Workers’ Solidarity Centre.
The annual capacity-building event, centered on the theme “The Working Class and the Politics of 2027,” serves as a primary gathering for labor leaders and delegates across the federation.
Egwakhide had registered for the program and was attending the Leadership Course B module when senior officials of the NLC identified him in the classroom. According to sources at the venue, he was queried on his presence by the Vice Chancellor of the Rain School, Dr. Muttaqa Yusha’u, alongside Comrade Uche Ekwe, Head of the NLC International Department and National Assembly Liaison Officer. The officials challenged his legal standing to represent Edo State workers, describing his presence as an attempt by an imposter to undermine congress structures. He was subsequently ordered out of the class and escorted from the session.
Addressing the remaining delegates immediately after the ejection, Dr. Yusha’u explained the national body’s decision, outlining Egwakhide’s persistent organizational disobedience and insistence on running a parallel executive contrary to the NLC constitution.
The decisive action underscores the stance of the NLC national leadership, which does not recognize the Egwakhide-led group. The national body had previously dissolved disputed structures in Edo State and installed an official Caretaker Committee, chaired by Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, to manage the affairs of the state council.
The expulsion serves as a clear signal from the national leadership that participation in high-level strategic programs—especially those shaping labor’s political direction ahead of 2027—is strictly reserved for constitutionally recognized delegates.
At the time of filing this report, representatives of the Edo Caretaker Committee remain the sole recognized delegation representing the state at the Uyo assembly.
