President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama has been elected as the new President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) in the exercise conducted on Saturday in Abuja.
Kaigama defeated Babatunde Ogun of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) with 356 votes to 314 in the election to produce who takes over from Comrade Peter Esele whose tenure has ended.
The conference was attended by over 700 delegates who also voted to elect the 10 new officers to run the affairs of the association for the next three years.
The election, according to observers and past presidents of the union who monitored it, was very peaceful and rancour-free.
Accepting the victory in a speech he delivered after the result had been announced, Kaigama said that the new leadership would work with the government and private sector employers to improve the welfare of workers.
According to him, “the mandate given to us is to be good ambassadors so that we will better the lot of Nigerian workers.”
Assuring that the new executive would build on existing foundation in the provision of housing for workers and a new secretariat for the congress, he disclosed that his team had developed a blue-print on the welfare of workers and ways to address various challenges affecting those he would be representing.
He dedicated his victory to past leaders of the union and called on other contestants to join hands with the newly elected leaders to lift the standard of Nigerian workers, particularly those of TUC.
Esele, the outgoing TUC president, said he was satisfied with the conduct of the election and expressed optimism that the congress would be taken to the next level by the newly elected leaders.
Members of the new executive also include Comrade Sunday Salako from the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution who was elected unopposed as First Deputy President; Augustin Etafo from PENGASSAN, who emerged as Second Deputy President; and Bede Opara from the Senior Staff of Electricity and Allied Corporation who was elected as Third Deputy President.
Also, Babatunde Abdulrahaman, president of Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association was elected as Treasurer.
