THE GENERAL Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Emmanuel Okechukwu Ugboaja, has died.
Ugboaja, 60, reportedly died last Sunday, August 23, 2026, after reportedly battling with leukaemia for over four years.
Although rumours of Comrade Ugboaja’s death had been circulating within labour circles since Monday, August 24, 2026, it was however confirmed by the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who reportedly announced Ugboaja’s passage to members of the National Executive Council (NEC) holding in Enugu, Enugu State.
Ajaero was said to have read a letter from Ugboaja’s family informing NEC of his passing. National Record could not ascertain why the NLC had delayed the announcement of the death of its topmost bureaucrat about five days after rumours of his passing had saturated labour circles.
Ugboaja, a 1987 law graduate of the University of Calabar, is from Abia State. He joined the NLC in 2009 as Senior Assistant General Secretary under the secretariat leadership of Comrade John Odah as General Secretary.
Ugboaja was subsequently appointed the General Secretary of the NLC in August 2019 at the NEC meeting in Kano; succeeding the then retiring Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, who died on December 13, 2025.
Ugboaja had worked as General Secretary of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), an affiliate of the NLC, from 2000 to 2005.
Following his exit from NUCFRLANMPE, Ugboaja was recruited by the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE) where he served as Coordinator for Advocacy and Mobilisation between 2006 and 2009.
