Elections: Dockworkers protest against imposition of candidate by terminal operators

Members of the Dockworkers Branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), from Tin Can and Apapa Branches, in Lagos on Monday, April 28, 2025 protested against subterranean moves by some of their leaders whom they allegedly accused of working with some terminal operators to impose a presidential candidate and manipulate their forthcoming branch election.

The dockworkers started the protest at Tin Can Island Port, moved to Apapa Port, then to the former headquarters of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and ended it at the national secretariat of the MWUN at Osho Drive, Olodi Apapa.

They carried placards with various messages, alleged that a former President General Comrade Tony Nted Emmanuel and Princess Vicky Haastrup, Executive Vice Chairman of ENL Consortium Limited as the brain behind the moves of imposing a candidate from the Dockworkers Branch of Apapa, particularly from ENL Consortium Limited terminal, on them. They said this is a violation of the MWUN Constitution that allows rotation of presidency among all dockworkers branches under the Union.

Some of the inscriptions in the placards read:
“TOBEF cannot be only stevedoring company to produce dockworkers President”

“We don’t want terminal operators to intervene in our Union election”

“Terminal operators should stay clear in our union election”

“Let workers breathe”

“We want to choose our leaders by ourselves”

The said the Apapa Branch has produced two presidents of the Dockworkers Branch, one after the other, and all these presidents are products of ENL Consortium Limited. They accused Comrade Tony Nted Emmanuel, who is also from Apapa Branch, of pushing another candidate from Apapa while the incumbent whose tenure will soon expire this May is from the Apapa Branch.

The protesters added that the immediate past President General of the Union, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, came out of the Apapa Branch, particularly ENL Consortium Limited, asking why ENL Consortium Limited is neck deep in the Union’s activities and always striving hard to ensure that the president of the Dockworkers Branch is always from Apapa.

They echoed that it is the turn of Tin Can Port Branch and other branches outside Lagos to contest and produce the next president of Dockworkers Branch in the branch election coming up in May. They urged the Apapa Branch to drop their ambition and support Tin Can Branch now in the interest of justice, equity and fairness.

Speaking with PortNews at the scene of the protest, Comrade Adeyi Abdulwaheed, Secretary of Tin Can Island Port, Unit 2 District 2, said the protest was staged to stand against imposition of a president and manipulation of the branch election.

According to him, “the reason why we are here today is simple. It is to protest against interference and imposition of presidential candidate on us by some leaders and terminal operators; a person who will do their interest. We stand against this. It is our fundamental right to choose our leader who will represent our interests as dockworkers and not the one who will dance to only the tunes of the terminal operators. Time is now to end this.

“We know the leaders who played critical roles during the NJIC negotiation for salary improvement for dockworkers. And we also know those who chose to work against the interests of the workers during the negotiations. The help of our past President General Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the incumbent President General, Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, and our presidential candidate, Comrade Oluwole Michael Adetumi, got us the NJIC. They played critical roles to get us good wages. We are agitating for our rights to choose our leader, and we are ready for Comrade Oluwole Michael Adetumi.

“The rotation of president is stated clearly in our constitution. We kick against some leaders who are pushing another candidate from Apapa, particularly from ENL Consortium Limited.”

Comrade Uche Nwani Felix, who is from Apapa Branch, said it is an injustice for Apapa Branch to produce another opresident, saying this is against the rotational clauses in the Union Constitution. He noted that the Tin Can Island Port Branch has paid its dues towards the growth of dockworkers and they deserve to produce the next president from Lagos, not Apapa.

He said he and others from Apapa Branch joined the protest not because of sentiments or tribalism but to do the right thing – justice and equity. “It is the turn of Tin Can Branch to produce the next president of Dockworkers Branch from Lagos,” he said.

Another speaker, Comrade Innocent said the protest was staged to take back the system, the Union, from the strong men in the Union created by terminal operators. We have the right to choose our leaders. “It is the turn of Tin Can Branch to produce the president as Apapa has produced presidents and even President Generals. We want equity and fairness. We want the president to come from Tin Can,” said he.

Speaking at the former headquarters of NIMASA, the leader of the protest, Comrade Sunday Osho, who is the Assistant Secretary of Apapa District, noted that the protest was taken to NIMASA to register their grievances against injustice and wanted NIMASA as their regulator to intervene to avoid anarchy.

He accused Comrade Tony Nted Emmanuel of being domineering and always conniving with Princess Vicky Haastrup, Executive Vice Chairman of ENL Consortium Limited, to manipulate the whole process by ensuring that the president is always from Apapa

“We don’t know what is hidden at ENL Consortium Limited terminal that Princess Vicky Haastrup wants to cover up by ensuring that Apapa Branch, particularly the candidate from her terminal, is always the president. We are here at NIMASA to register our protest against this injustice,” said Osho.

Some NIMASA officials who obliged to meet the protesters invited them to a close-door meeting. The outcome of the meeting is that MWUN should write the NIMASA authority officially to register their grievances.

Ending the protest at the national secretariat of the Union at Olodi, Apapa, the President General, Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, acknowledged the rights of the workers to protest, their rights for justice and equity and thanked them for making their grievances known to the Union peacefully.

Comrade Francis Bunu Abi assured the dockworkers that the Union would not deny any member his or her rights to contest but the Union constitution will be strictly adhered to as regards the election.

He enjoined members to sell their candidates without any rancour, assuring them that their rights and welfare would be paramount to his administration.