By Our EditorÂ
A former Chairman of Trade Union Congress{TUC} in Oyo State   Comrade Andrew Emelieze, said the congress of  the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) will continue to uphold the law by standing with Comrade Bola Innocent Audu as the duly elected of the worker union.
Emelieze, who is a former member of the National Executive Council of ASCSN, said the constitution is clear on who becomes the President of the Union.
In a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Emelieze emphasized that it is unconstitutional for a non-civil servant to be a member of the union, pointing out that  all retired civil servants ceases to be members of union and are not to take up any elective post nor partake in our union activities.
The labour leader said: ‘’We, the Congress of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), stand by the constitution of our union which is very clear on the position of membership and leadership in the Union. The constitution states clearly that membership and leadership shall be for only civil servants at both the federal and state civil service of Nigeria.
‘’Our constitution is crystal clear on who becomes the President of the Union. The President must be a serving civil servant either in the federal or state civil service and must be elected for a fixed tenure. It is unconstitutional for a non-civil servant to be a member of our union and all retired civil servants ceases to be members of union and are not to take up any elective post nor partake in our union activities.
‘’All retired civil servants are to automatically join the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP). Our constitution is very clear on this issue.
‘’Therefore, the Congress stands with our constitution and Comrade Bola Innocent Audu , who is an active civil servant, an active member of the Union and legitimately elected President of the Union to represent the Union as a matter of legality and morality.
‘’We are aware of the callous and egocentric politics played by some corrupt and pseudo labour bureaucrats to set up the duly elected President Comrade Bola Innocent Audu. They went as far as to frame him up on allegations of human trafficking and also made attempts to get him dismissed from service. God is a God of justice, Comrade Bola has been cleared of the trump up charges and he has been discharged and acquitted by the court. Subsequently, his ministry has reinstated him’’.
Emelieze added that the Congress now knows the truth, saying, ‘’we hope for justice as the Congress fully stands with Comrade Bola as our authentic President that has the mandate of the national delegates conference to lead our Union’’.
He called on the Congress to join ‘’our President at the National Industrial Court Abuja on the 25th and 26th October,2023 as the court seats. We are confident of justice. Our Union shall be liberated.
‘’The Congress equally calls on Comrade Bola to forgive all behind the crisis in the Union and he should seek to reunite all our members through the setting up of a peace and reconciliation committee. Our great union must move forward and the glorious days of the protection of member interest returned’’.