Tag: Labour Party

The Labour Party has said it is not in talks with the Peoples Democratic Party over a merger to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress from power at the Federal level. 

National Publicity Secretary, Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja. 

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar had called for a merger to dislodge the APC ahead of the 2027 election. 

Abubakar, who was the Presidential candidate of the PDP in the February 25 election, said only a merger could remove the APC from power at the Federal level. 

Ifoh said the Labour Party was yet to take account of the 2023 presidential election. 

The statement reads: “Kindly disregard the sensational news making the round which suggests that Labour Party is working out a merger arrangement with any other political party. It is purely a news item twisted and sensationalized by a section of the media to embarrass the Labour Party.

“A news organisation called for a reaction as regards to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for opposition political parties to work together to fight against one party system in Nigeria being planned by the APC. 

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“In my reaction, I said that it was only a proposal and every Nigerian should be interested in making democracy work in Nigeria and that what we have presently is an autocracy. There was no where in the response that the purported merger between LP and PDP was mentioned.

“The Labour Party has just concluded the 2023 general election episode and a post mortem is yet to hold, therefore the way forward for the party has not been discussed. When we do, Nigerians will be properly informed.

“I therefore urge Nigerians to disregard such and many other twisted and sensational stories purported to emanate from the Labour Party. The party has its official platform used to disseminate its information.”

The Labour Party has said it was confident that the Supreme Court will declare its presidential candidate in the February 25, 2023 election, Peter Obi winner of the election.

The national legal officer of the Labour Party (LP), Kehinde Edun, said this on Wednesday, October 25, in Abuja ahead of the Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, October 26.

Edun said the party presented its case before the court and was therefore confident of victory.

The Supreme Court has scheduled judgements for Thursday in the appeals by Atiku Abubakar/the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Obi/Labour Party (LP) against the September 6 judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the last presidential election.

Read Also: Six key things to know as Supreme Court delivers judgment in Atiku, Obi’s appeal against Tinubu

A seven-member panel of the court, headed by Justice John Okoro, heard the appeals on Monday and reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to parties.

Speaking on Wednesday, Edun said: “We are expecting victory because that is what justice demands; that is what Nigerians want. We will not lose hope. We have presented our case before the court.

“We are confident of victory for the Labour Party and for Nigerians. We know that there will be jubilation everywhere in Nigeria.”

The Labour Party (LP) has expressed confidence in winning the upcoming governorship election in Imo state, scheduled for November 11.

Basil Maduka, a prominent member of the party, also affirmed his commitment to working towards securing a victory for the party in the state.

This is as the national publicity secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, said LP was open to welcoming “estranged members of the party back to its fold.”

Maduka pledged his support for the party’s candidate, Senator Athan Achonu, to secure a resounding victory in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

He had contested the candidacy of Achonu up to the Supreme Court which affirmed Senator Achonu as the candidate of the party.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, October 18, in Abuja, Maduka said he was now supporting the party fully since the Supreme Court had declared Achonu the authentic flag bearer of the party.

He added that he had no business with the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the party.

He said: “I want to categorically state that I am not associated with any faction within the Labour Party, particularly in Apapa. These claims are baseless and are being spread in an attempt to tarnish my reputation and exclude me from participating in party affairs.

“I am surprised that some people are saying I am not known in the party. Nobody can say that in Imo. You know, when some people want to be relevant through social media or wherever. I mean, somebody who formed the party, financed the party till after the presidential election, now somebody’s telling you that you’re not part of the party, that’s to tell you that something is happening somewhere

“As a result of those two primaries, because there was a matter in court, these groups now produced me as their candidate. The one by their committee also had a candidate led by Senator Achonu and myself are the two known candidates. This one was a committee, the other one was the people already in court where they asked the party to remain status quo.

So, we had to go to court so that the court could interpret who is the legitimate or authentic candidate. So, at least the party will take its course. That is why we took it to the Supreme Court. At the end of the day, the Supreme Court, in its wisdom, decided that this is the candidate. So, you can’t challenge the court when the matter has gone to the Supreme Court.

“Today at our party, we will make sure that our party wins because I’ve invested a lot. I am the highest investor. So, my party in Imo has to win. Anybody who is telling you that if this man is still in the party, is he still in Imo state? Nobody from Imo can tell you that Basil Maduka is not loved.

Read Also: Reject official vehicles, Abure tells Labour Party’s members at Reps

“Mind you again, let me show you the structure I set up in Imo as regards the Labour Party. I set up and I am also the major financier of what we call the big tent. Big Tent has a structure in 305 wards funded by me.

“OBIDATTI movement, there are so many support groups as of today there are 55 support groups, so I merged them together. I funded each of them and each of them has a structure in 305 wards. There is the Basil Maduka movement, there is a restoration agenda movement, and all these people have structures in 305 wards so you can imagine who owns the party in Imo.

“Before some people came in after a presidential election, I have set this up so that you say you want to win or run in the election, you set such a precedent up. These are all my babies. So, as we speak, it is Basil Maduka who will determine who depends on. Of 305 wards. Yes, the Supreme Court has taken its decision, but these crowds will determine who wins the governorship or as we speak today.

“As we speak, the Supreme Court matter just ended and I addressed all my supporters on Saturday. I called all the unit heads, the 55 support groups, Basil Maduka’s movement, the state exco and all their heads, I addressed them Saturday. That was my first outing because we still have the election in three weeks.”

The Labour Party (LP) has directed its elected members in the House of Representatives to “kick against” official vehicles that will be distributed to members in the coming weeks.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, a factional National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, urged the party’s members in the 10th Assembly to “kick against this unnecessary wastage of resources, in line with the ideology of the party, which is social justice and equal opportunity for all”.

The decision of the Green Chamber to distribute official vehicles to its members has generated debates among Nigerians.

But House spokesperson Akin Rotimi said the vehicles to be distributed to members are official vehicles and not for personal use.

He said the vehicles are assigned to members during their tenure and must be returned after the end of their term.

Read Also; Cash transfer, best way to fight poverty, says Minister

Rotimi said the purchase of operational vehicles is not exclusive to the legislature, as executive appointees also get vehicles.

In his statement, Abure said: “A few days ago, the news filtered that 360 members of the House of Representatives are to be gifted with vehicles worth about N160 million each. The Labour Party is indeed shocked, saddened and disappointed at the level of insensitivity being displayed by the executive and the legislative arms of the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.”

“It is saddening that with deepening poverty among Nigerians, the administration has decided to increase its appetite for a life of opulence to mock hardworking but underprivileged Nigerians.

“How else can any government justify the bloated Federal Executive Council (FEC) of 48 cabinet ministers with each of them given three luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles on the first day in office, paid for and fueled by taxpayers?

“This is notwithstanding hundreds of presidential and ministerial aides, as well as numerous aides to the aides which are being funded by the government.

“These vehicles will be costing Nigerians about N57.6 billion, and this is happening at a time when the government claims it cannot afford to increase the minimum wage of N30,000 monthly to workers.

“A bag of 50-kg (bag of) rice is today N50,000 and most families can’t afford two square meals a day. How insensitive can a government become? This same government is still going round the world cap in hand, seeking for loan.

“As things stand today, inflation is likely to hit 30 per cent by December 2023. Yet, all they are concerned about is the comfort of a privileged few who found themselves in public office.

“Why spend so much money on the importation and purchase of vehicles from other nations amidst the scarcity of needed foreign exchange for manufacturing? Why not empower local manufacturers, such as Innoson Motor in Anambra and Peugeot Automobiles in Kaduna, to save forex and boost our local economy?

“When our presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, said we in the Labour Party want to move the economy from consumption to production

The Labour Party has said it is “amazed” at the spate of judgements at the tribunals sacking its elected members at the National and Houses of Assembly.

The party said it took Nigerians by surprise in the last election by “rewriting the political narratives and ending the dominance of the two major political parties in Nigeria.”

It however lamented that its successes at the last general election was “regrettably being reversed by the pronouncements coming out from the various tribunals.”

The tribunals have sacked Labour Party elected lawmakers in Lagos, Abia, Enugu among other States. 

In a statement by its factional Chairman, Julius Abure, the Labour Party said it was worried because “the reasons for reversing our victories are matters that have been settled by the superior courts in the past.”

The statement reads: “The Labour Party is amazed at the spate of judgments being churned out at the various National and State Assembly tribunals where several of our elected members at the National Assembly have been sacked by the tribunals. 

“Labour Party at the last general election took Nigerians by surprise by rewriting the political narratives and ending the dominance of the two major political parties in Nigeria. LP became a household name with over 10 million members and supporters across the nation. However, this feat is regrettably being reversed by the pronouncements coming out from the various tribunals.

“We are worried because the reasons for reversing our victories are matters that have been settled by the superior courts in the past. It is even incomprehensible and ludicrous when different tribunals give conflicting and diverse judgements on the same matter, a matter that has since been ruled by the Supreme Court and very recently at the Presidential Election Petition Court in APC v Peter Obi. The courts have in a plethora of cases held that the court has no jurisdiction to intervene in the internal affairs of a political party. 

“The issue of nomination of candidates as well as membership are internal affairs of the party beyond the jurisdiction of courts. It is only a political party that can determine who its members are and who their flag bearer for an election should be.  

“In its judgment in SC/CV/501/2023 which was sighted for the Tribunal, the Supreme Court held that “A political party that files a suit to challenge the nomination of the candidate of another party will be a nosy busybody, a meddlesome interloper, peeping into the affairs of his neighbour without any backing in law. No court of law can entertain such a Suit” 

“In the case of ARDO & ANOR v. NYAKO & ORS (2013) LPELR-CA/YL/15/2012 (CONSOLIDATED), the court of appeal, per Per DENTON-WEST, J.C.A., held that; “However it is a notorious principle of law that courts have no right whatsoever to descend into the internal affairs of political parties as to choose their candidates for them” or decide the status of their membership.

Read Also: PDP, Labour Party reject verdict

“This position is more vividly expounded in the case of AGI v. PDP & ORS (2016) LPELR-SC.256/2016, where the Supreme Court held that; “… a party is supreme over its own affairs……A party is like a club. A voluntary association. It has its rules, regulations, guidelines, and Constitution…”

“Part of the rules and guidelines of the Labour Party is to accord membership to any Nigerian who desires, and including by way of a waiver. If you look at our guidelines, it is very clear that we can grant a waiver to people who are joining us during the election, and Labour Party in observance of its own relevant rules and guidelines discharged its obligations by granting a waiver to as many as requested for it. So, It is our inalienable right under our own rules and we activated it to the fullest.”

The party noted that the decisions of the tribunals were in contravention of established jurisprudence.

It said it was a “mockery of our judicial system for lower courts to upturn a judgement already delivered by the Supreme court.”

The Labour Party led by Julius Abure faction has referred a legal practitioner, Monday Mawah to the chairman, Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for allegedly saying that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has declared Lamidi Apapa as the national chairman of the party.

The Labour Party, in a petition addressed to chairman of the committee, accused the lawyer of making the statement on national television following the ruling of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja last week.

The party also accused the lawyer of claiming that the court ordered that the names of candidates that emerged as winners in the purported primary election conducted by the Lamidi Apapa-faction be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be imputed as the candidates of the Labour Party for the 2023 gubernatorial elections fixed for later in the year.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, the national publicity secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said the comments of the lawyer as openly stated on national television was contrary to the decisions of the Court of Appeal in its judgments in the appeals.

According to the party, Mawah falsely stated in the interview that the Court of Appeal had upheld the decision of the trial court, which he said the court never did.

Read Also: Labour Party will win Imo governorship election, Peter Obi vows

The party called on the committee to immediately commence the process of disciplining the lawyer for his “conduct infringing on the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”

The Labour Party petition reads in part: “Sir, it is indeed with great trepidation that we write given that this is a season of politicking and political turmoil where even otherwise profoundly discreet, prudent and circumspect people nurse no compunction or reservation about casting their pearls before swine.

“We are in a democracy and stringent opposition to our party’s candidates’ emergence is expected. We have not been left disappointed even if we have been a little surprised by the nature and provenance of these attacks.

“We are however surprised and taken aback that a member of the revered legal profession has thrown caution to the winds and has embarked on a voyage of spreading false news to bring both the bar and the bench to opprobrium.”