Festus Osifo has been elected as the new President-General of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).
His election came at the 12th Triennial National Delegates’ Conference of the Congress, held Wednesday in Abuja.
Declaring the result, the Returning Officer, Shehu Mohammed, said a total of 728 delegates participated in the election.
Mohammed said Osifo pulled 688 votes to defeat his opponent, Mrs Oyikan Olasanoye who polled 18 votes, while 22 votes were declared invalid.
With this election, Osifo, who is also the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), is expected to pilot the affairs of the labour trade organisation for the next three years and will take over the helm from Quadri Olaleye.
Osifo assumed office as President of PENGASSAN on August 28, 2020, and had also served amongst others as PENGASSAN Producers Forum Chairman, between 2016 and 2018.
The new TUC President is a member of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and Society for Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
In his acceptance speech, Osifo vowed to fight for the welfare of the masses as well as the protection of the interest of every Nigerian worker.
He commanded the past leaders of the congress for laying “a solid foundation” on which the body thrives and vowed to sustain the vision.
Osifo also promised to carry everyone along in his quest for a greater TUC while also pledging to “initiate a platform to placate all aggrieved comrades.
On his part, the outgoing president, Quadri Olaleye in a goodbye note commended all members for their support, while calling on the incumbent to ensure peace for the union to move forward.
“I want to seize this opportunity to remind that election in the trade union movement is not a do-or-die affair. There is never a loser, always remember that we are comrades and that an injury to one is an injury to all”, he said.
On her part, Mrs Peace Obiajulu, the Pioneer President of the TUC called on members of the Labour centre to ensure that the election does not divide the unity of workers.
She said that organised labour must come together to use their numerical strength to redirect the cause of the working class in Nigeria in particular and by extension, the downtrodden in the country.
