Organized labour, civil society organizations, youth groups, women’s associations, and pro-democracy advocates have formally aligned with Accord Party presidential candidate Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim through the launch of the Movement for Democratic Renewal in Abuja, creating what its founders described as a broad coalition committed to rebuilding democratic institutions, restoring electoral integrity, and making governance genuinely responsive to ordinary Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.
The NLC FCT Council Chairman Dr. Steven Nabayi, representing NLC President Joe Ajaero, said organized labour’s decision to associate with the movement and co-chair it alongside Olawepo-Hashim reflected the Congress’s assessment that he was a credible partner whose long record of democratic practice and institutional commitment made him a trustworthy anchor for a coalition seeking more than electoral opportunity. He said labour had a duty to support initiatives that placed good governance at their center and that the current state of the country made such initiatives not merely desirable but necessary.
Olawepo-Hashim, addressing the launch, said the movement had been established in response to a democratic environment characterized by shrinking civic space, declining institutional credibility, weakening electoral processes, and growing public disillusionment with the political class. He said the coalition would work to defend democratic structures, strengthen accountability mechanisms, and ensure that governance remained accountable to citizens rather than serving the narrow interests of those temporarily occupying public office.
He warned that rising inflation and naira depreciation were systematically destroying the real value of workers’ earnings, making pay increases meaningless when purchasing power continued to erode, and proposed a policy program built around currency stabilization, expanded domestic production, productivity enhancement, and stronger energy security through increased local refining capacity.
Olawepo-Hashim and NLC President Ajaero were named as co-chairmen of the movement, with Acting NLC General Secretary Comrade Denja Yaqub delivering the vote of thanks and representatives of industrial unions in attendance, giving the launch a labour imprimatur that its organizers said was central to the coalition’s legitimacy as a genuinely people-centered democratic initiative.
