Osun poll: NLC, TUC must build political alternative — MSA

The Movement for a Socialist Alternative has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to “move beyond issuing routine statements” and take practical steps towards building a political alternative for workers and the poor.

The organisation said this in a statement made available to Third Lens on Monday as Osun State gears up for the August 15, 2026 governorship election.

The MSA, in the statement signed by its Osun State Coordinator, Abibat Jimoh, condemned what it described as the “growing wave of political violence, intimidation, killings, and manipulation” that has characterised the build-up to the election.

The group said, “The struggle is not between the APC and Accord, but between the exploiters and the working masses,” arguing that the election had exposed the problems inherent in Nigeria’s capitalist political system.

According to the MSA, “elections under capitalism have become less about programmes for improving the lives of the people and more about capturing state power for personal enrichment and control over public resources.”

It said political offices had become “highly lucrative investments” because office holders enjoyed “jumbo salaries, outrageous allowances, security votes, and numerous privileges far removed from the harsh realities facing ordinary Nigerians.”

The group noted that while politicians spend billions to secure electoral victories, millions of Nigerians struggle to afford food, transportation, healthcare, housing and quality education.

“Workers continue to struggle under poor wages, pensioners are owed gratuities, unemployment continues to rise, and inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the masses,” it said.

The MSA said the situation in Osun was not an isolated incident but a reflection of what it described as the broader crisis of Nigeria’s capitalist political system.

“The events unfolding in Osun State are not isolated incidents. They reflect the crisis of Nigeria’s capitalist political system, where politics has become a business venture rather than a means of serving society,” the group said.

It rejected what it described as the “false choice” presented by competing political parties, saying the future of Nigerians should not be determined by politicians who “remember the people only during elections but abandon them immediately after assuming office.”

The organisation consequently called on trade unions, students’ organisations, youth groups, community associations and other progressive forces to begin building “an independent working-class political alternative” capable of challenging money politics, electoral violence and capitalist exploitation.

It said the NLC and TUC, in particular, “must move beyond issuing routine statements and take practical steps towards building a genuine political platform rooted in the interests of workers and the poor.”

The MSA also demanded that all acts of political violence be thoroughly investigated and those responsible prosecuted, regardless of their political affiliation.

“The security of lives and property must never be sacrificed for electoral ambition,” it said.

The group argued that the key issue in the Osun election was not simply who would occupy the Government House after the poll, but “whose interests any government serves.”

It called for the building of a socialist alternative based on “democratic public ownership and control” of the commanding heights of the economy, with resources planned and utilised to meet the needs of the majority.

The MSA urged workers, youths, students and the poor to “organise, mobilise, and build a mass socialist movement” capable of replacing what it described as the politics of exploitation with “a government of working people, by working people, and for working people.”