Following a series of crises that have bedeviled the Labour Party (LP) since the 2023 general elections, the recent discontent over the leadership of the party is causing further division among stakeholders and dampening the morale of many who had expected it to build on its successes, Assistant Editor EMMANUEL BADEJO reports.
The signs are obvious that all is not well with the Labour Party, as a fresh storm gathers over the leadership of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), headed by its chairman, Julius Abure.
Observers have noted that the fresh crisis rocking Abure’s chairmanship won’t be the first. On several occasions, the leadership of the Edo-politician has been questioned and some LP’s stakeholders have called for his removal.
Notwithstanding, he has so far survived those calls and that explains why he still retains his seat as the chairman of the party. Will the lawyer-turned politician survive the heat this time? Only time will tell.
The man, Abure, arguably, is not a political neophyte, hence, some pundits see him to navigate through the murky waters through closing ranks with some of his perceived political enemies.
Abure became the chairman of the party following the death of his predecessor, Abdukadir Abdulsalam. He was elected by LP’s National Executive Council (NEC) in 2021, as he was the National Secretary of the party at the time.
Though his reign has weathered one storm or the other, fresh intra-party disputes are evolving.
Coming lately is an outburst by Kenneth Okonwko, an ally of the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, who said he had parted ways with his principal following irreconcilable differences.
Insiders say that Okonkwo decided to express his frustration following failure of Obi and other leaders in the party to prevail on Abure to rescind some of the decisions he, alongside NWC had taken. These decisions, according to pundits, are hurting the internal structure of the party.
Earlier in May, the Nollywood actor and politician Okonkwo had distanced himself from the Abure-led National Working Committee of the Labour Party, LP.
Okonkwo said he couldn’t continue with a corrupt and incompetent NWC led by Abure.
In a post on X, Okonkwo expressed strong condemnation of the national convention organised by Abure, labelling it as rife with criminality and corruption.
The post reads: “I am suspending my relationship in all ramifications with the purported Abure-led National Working Committee of the Labour Party.
“For me, it’s either a new Nigeria or nothing. I prefer to lose doing the right thing to winning doing the wrong thing.
“Nothing can wash out the criminality, corruption, and incompetence with which the purported National Convention was purportedly organised by Abure.
“I did not leave the comfort of a ruling party, APC, because I believe that they are incompetent and dishonest, only to come and join another incompetent and corrupt association, which is the current Abure-led National Working Committee of the Labour Party.”
This is coming amid the endorsement of the Abure-led NWC by the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Reacting, LP debunked Okonkwo’s claim, describing as a mole in their camp.
LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said Okonkwo’s departure from the party did not come as a surprise to any of their followers who already knew that he was a mole within their rank.
The legal practitioner has however said that he is still a bonafide member of the party.
The former National Treasurer of the party, Mrs. Oluchi Opara, had accused Abure of financial recklessness, and demanded the resignation of the embattled chairman. The party had since suspended her for six months.
Opara, who also picked hole in the party’s convention, said since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has bluntly rejected the ill-fated national convention Abure purportedly conducted in Nnewi, Anambra State, this year for being in contravention of the party’s constitution, he lacks the legal authority to continue in office, especially after the expiration of his tenure.
She further warned the party’s members aspiring for any elective office on the platform of the party on the dangers in Abure signing their nomination forms, stressing that such forms will be voided by the electoral umpire.
She specifically commended the electoral commission for standing very resolutely on the side of legality by rejecting the highly boycotted Nnewi convention because it contravened the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and INEC Guidelines and Regulations for Political Parties 2022.
The party’s former National Treasurer who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, urged the leaders of the party, especially elected members of the party that are statutory delegates to both National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Convention, to rise up to save the party from the impending disaster.
“If Abure is allowed to submit any nominated candidate for any election to INEC, it will void the candidacy of the prospective aspirant as he no longer has legal authority to do so,” she warned.
Insisting that the electoral commission did not recognise the Nnewi convention, and brandishing a letter from INEC, which stated that it did not monitor the convention, Opara claimed that Abure and his cohorts are hell bent on misinforming unsuspecting members of the public about the failed convention.
“We stand here as members of our great party, the LP, which has been in great turmoil since immediately after the 2023 general elections as a result of the obnoxious ambition of Julius Abure, whose tenure elapsed on June 9, 2024.
“In light of the letter from INEC, the recognised and registered LP Constitution as provided by INEC to us is that of 2019. So, those parading themselves as elected national officers of the party with the purported 2024 Constitution, is null and void. The purported 2024 constitution was not accepted by INEC as well as every other aspect of the failed Nnewi convention.
“This will put to rest all the lies Abure has been spreading about that INEC has approved his convention. We are calling on leaders of the party, especially elected members of the party that are statutory delegates to both NEC and national convention to rise up to save the party from the impending disaster.
“We know and aware that Abure and his cohorts are hell bent on misinforming unsuspecting members of the public about the failed National Convention especially when it has to do with the election of national officers of our party and the amendment of our party’s constitution which INEC has refused to honour because of lack of due process.
“No amount of propaganda can change a badly taken decision to a right one when we all know it failed to follow constitutional provisions, regulations and guidelines. Abure is caught with his soiled hands in the till of the party and has spared no effort in his attempt to destroy the party that has given him so much by doing everything possible to bring the party and its members worldwide to their knees,” she alleged.
Reacting further, Mrs Opara said: “We stand and make bold to say that we learnt it on good authority that Abure immediately after the ill-fated national convention in Nnewi, had boasted that he was going to swamp INEC with so much cash in both local and foreign currencies to validate the illegality he had carried out in Nnewi.
“But he was unfortunate enough to meet an INEC Chairman and commission who have sworn to uphold the oath of office to carry out the spirit and the letters regulating the processes that have been laid down for the strengthening of internal party democracy within political parties in Nigeria.
“Ever since then, Abure has been running from pillar to post to make certain that INEC, which boycotted his ill-fated Nnewi national convention and did not monitor or observe the proceedings at the convention recognises and validates his illegality.
“We hereby wish to use this opportunity to thank the Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, and the staff of the commission for their steadfastness despite the pressure heaped on the Commission to look the other way and validate his ill-fated national convention.
“With the resilience and good faith INEC has exhibited in the face of these odds, we have come to the conclusion that the future of Nigeria’s democracy is in good hands,” she commended.
In the same vein, the chief spokesperson for the Obi-Datti campaign organisation, Yinusa Tanko, said that the current crisis rocking the party could have been prevented if the leadership had taken the advice of Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
Tanko said the recently concluded national convention of the party, which returned Julius Abure as the national chairman was not all-inclusive.
“His Excellency, Peter Obi, has made a concerted effort in trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to improve,” Tanko said on national television.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi) suggested to the national chairman that because we are bigger now, we need to have a wider consultation: meet with responsible and interested people such as the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group – young generation people who are interested in seeing Nigeria work. Meet with leaders who have different ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.
“All of these were the suggestions that he (Obi) made, and not only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with the members of the National Assembly.
“He (Obi) met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and you could improve our situation but of course, you know how politics is, sometimes, people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink water, so that’s exactly what Peter Obi has done, he has done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we find ourselves in.”
He said while Abure has the right to contest the national chairmanship position again, it was only proper that the right things are done by opening the door for more people to be part of the process.
Tanko noted that Abure went outside an initial agreement to have an all-inclusive national convention which ought to start from the ward, local government and state levels before the national level.
Late last month, the Independent National Electoral Commission has dissociated itself from the convention organised by the National Chairman of Labour Party, Mr. Julius Abure.
Recall that the crisis rocked the party in April 2023 after a Federal Capital Territory High Court issued an order restraining Abure from parading himself as the LP’s national chairman.
Following the court verdict, the LP Deputy National Chairman, Lamidi Apapa, became the Acting National Chairman of the party.
But Abure fought back to retain his seat with the help of the parent body, Nigeria Labour Congress, under the leadership of its National President, Joe Ajaero.
The Abure-led leadership thereafter held a national convention for the party at Nnewi, Anambra State on March 27, 2024.
However, Abure fell out of favour with the NLC following the national convention, which returned him and all his loyal members of the National Working Committee.
The Abure-led NWC through a lawyer later requested for a Certified True Copy of the convention document from INEC.
But the electoral commission, in a letter referenced INEC/DEPM/LP/CTC/885/1, dated July 18 and signed by Acting Secretary, Haliru Aminu, stated that it couldn’t report on the convention because it did not monitor it.
According to the letter that partly read, “The commission has received your request for the Certified True Copy of the monitored report of the Labour Party convention at Nnewi, Anambra State, held on the 27th of March 2024, and the Labour Party constitution.
“The Certified True Copy of the Labour Party Constitution has been forwarded to your firm earlier.
“Regrettably, the commission did not monitor the Labour Party Convention of 27th March, 2024 and cannot therefore report on the convention.”
Reacting, the National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Obiora Ifoh, however, said INEC didn’t reject Aburi-led convention and that the inability of the commission to monitor the convention did not in any way invalidate it.
Ifoh, in a statement on Saturday, urged members of the party to be calm and ignore the report that the convention was rejected.
He said, “INEC’s inability to monitor the convention did not in any way invalidate the internal party activity. INEC has also continued to respect the laws of the land despite pressure from certain quarters to compromise its civic responsibility.
“At no time did INEC say it had rejected the outcome of the convention of the Labour Party. We have since moved on from the very successful convention, and activities in the party have been frenzied with huge membership drives and other political events.”
Meanwhile, Obi has promised to address the crisis in the party. Obi, who attended the National Working Committee meeting of the LP, promised to address the challenges facing the party.
“Let me tell you one thing, their reconciliation is all about our party and I can assure you that everyone must reconcile with each other,” he said in a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh.
“During our meeting before we learnt that our people were outside, I told them that my first assignment was reconciliation, my second assignment was reconciliation and my third assignment, reconciliation and I can tell you that what you witnessed earlier is a normal thing in our lives, I do the same thing. It is what I do every day, even in our families.”
