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Tag: Labour Party

  • Labour Party loses only member to APC

    Labour Party loses only member to APC

    The only member of Labour Party (LP) in the House of Representatives, Segun Ogunwuyi has decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Ogunwuyi, who represents Ogbomoso North/South/Oriire Federal Constituency of Oyo state in the House, said his defection was with the consent of his constituents.

    He replaced former Leader of the House, Mulikat Akande, whom he defeated at the 2015 polls.

    He said his action followed due process with the division in Labour Party and the need for his constituents to enjoy the benefits of belonging to the party at the center.

    He said: “My defection was with the consent of my constituents who voted for me under the LP, the same people would vote for me to return to the House come next year.

    “With this development, my  constituents will have more dividends of democracy now that I am  in APC as we all know, that is the party that controls both Oyo state and the Federal government”.

    In his notice of defection letter read by the Deputy Speaker, Lasun Yussuff who presided over plenary session, the lawmaker said, “I wish to notify you and the entire House that I have defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    “This action and decision is as a result of the factionalisation in the Labour party that sponsored my election into the House of Representatives.

    “Presently there are two persons laying claim to the position of the National Chairman of the party with its attendant factional National Executive Committees.

    “After wide consultations with my constituents, I have been advised to formally defect to the All Progressive Congress so that we can together actualise our vision of moving our constituency, Oyo state and Nigeria at large forward.

    “This action is in tandem with the provisions of Section 68 (1)(g) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.

     

  •  Labour Party asks INEC to stop recognising ex-chairman

    THE Labour Party (LP) has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over alleged refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop recognising its past National Chairman, Alhaji A.A. Salam.

    The petition, titled: “Recognition of Mike Omotosho as the National Chairman of Labour Party,” dated January 29, 2018, was signed by the party’s Acting National Secretary, Julius Abure.

    The party urged the NHRC to prevail on the INEC to remove the name of Salam from its website and replace it with Dr. Mike Omotosho to forestall any confusion among members of the public.

    Abure said the laid down constitutional provision was followed and that a decision of the Special Convention of the party held on October 3, 2017, which INEC monitored, finally endorsed the removal of Salem as the LP National Chairman and was replaced by Dr. Mike Omotosho.

    He stated that upon taking the aforesaid decision on Salam, the INEC was “informed in writing; the 21 days notice was duly given, the police was informed and all other provisions followed diligently and yet INEC has refused to take the necessary action despite the powers political parties have to choose their leaders.

    Abure said: “It is expected that the NHRC would quickly investigate the allegation against INEC in line with its mandate and rules of procedures to ensure that it arrives at an informed decision on the matter.

  • Court bans Labour Party Chairman from Party Secretariat

    Court bans Labour Party Chairman from Party Secretariat

    An Abuja Area Court order has issued an order restraining the embattled national chairman of the Labour Party, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam from parading himself as the national chairman of the party and from entering the party’s national secretariat pending the determination of the suit before it.

    The Deputy National Chairman and National Secretary of the party, Chief Calistus Okafor and Barrister Julius Abure respectively has gone to court seeking to restrains the embattled former National Chairman, Abdulsalam or his representive from stepping into the party office and to stop parading himself within the properties of the party office pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

    Making the order, Presiding Judge, Aliyu Ibrahim said, “the defendant/respondent is hereby restrained either in person by his Prives, Agents or any person or body claiming through him from trespassing or stepping into the party office and to stop interference with the properties of the party and the office (Labour Party) pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has refused to recognize Dr. Mike Omotosho as the acting National Chairman of the party after a National Convention of the party held on the 3rd of October 2017 removed Alhaji Abdulsalam ‎as the substantive chairman of the party.

    But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the body that registered the the Labour Party has asked all parties in the dispute tearing the party apart to maintain status quo ante, pending the outcome of its intervention.

    The party had earlier in a petition to the Commissioner of Police, FCT command in December alleged that the inability of INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu ‎from respecting the outcome of the party’s convention is capable of jeopardize Labour Party as well as posing a threat to National security and peaceful co-exiatence of the party.

    Alhaji Abdulsalam was accused of financial recklessness, breach of trust, forgery, misappropriation and criminal intimidation.

    According to the petition the party alleged that Abdulsalam “recruited the services of heavily armed thugs and forcefully chased out staff and 19 members of the National Working Committee from the office. At the moment our office is occupied by heavily armed thugs. We are however amazed at the highest level of impunity and oppression which we have been subjected to in our own country especially in the 21st century under the administration of our amiable president who has zero tolerance for corruption.”

  • Leadership crisis tears Labour Party apart in Delta

    Leadership crisis tears Labour Party apart in Delta

    Ahead of next year’s general elections, the protracted crisis in the Delta State Labour Party (LP)  is taking  its toll on the chapter. OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE examines the genesis of the crisis and its impact on the preparations for the 2019 governorship poll.

    There is unease within the ranks of the Labour Party (LP) in Delta State, following a leadership tussle threatening to tear the chapter apart.

    The factional leaders, Chief Tony Ezeagwu and Emeka Nwaola, are in court to seeking adjudication on the rightful person to lead the party.

    Ezeagwu has already filed a suit at the state High Court in Kwale, praying the court to restrain the caretaker committee chairman, Nkwoala, from parading himself as chairman.

    Nkwoala said the caretaker committee which he heads as chairman has raised a team of lawyers to defend the case.

    He said that going by the constitution of the party, Ezeagwu’s three year tenure ended in September last year, adding that a special national convention formally dissolved the Ezeagwu-led executive and inaugurated the caretaker committee in October, 2017.

    Nwaola stressed: “Because Ezeagwu has taken us to court, it shows that he has accepted the decision of the convention, and should therefore, stop parading himself as chairman until the court gives a ruling on the matter.

    “For now, he is still going about illegally claiming to be chairman of the Labour Party by operating from the party’s former office. Ezeagwu does not share the ideology of the party; he is neither a trade unionist nor a member of a professional body.”

    Ezeagwu told reporters that the court has already issued an order restraining Nkwoala from parading himself as chairman.

    The crisis in the party started last year when the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Delta State for the 2015 election, Chief Great Ogboru, resigned from the party, shortly before dumping the party for the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    Ogboru had claimed to have entered into an agreement with the leadership of the LP in the state and at the national level to use the party to realise his ambition.

    According to Ogboru, part of the agreement was that members of LP would form the government with him and his DPP, if he had won the election, and the party would revert to status quo, if he failed.

    In his letter of resignation addressed to the party chairman, Nkwoala, Ogboru said all the members of DPP who came into the LP would be defecting the APC to provide “a strong, formidable, reliable and credible alternative to leadership in our state, and by extension good governance.”

    The letter dated April 26, 2016 added that all those who came from DPP to LP “and others of like minds will henceforth, cease to be members of the LP.”

    Ogboru added: “This, of course, is part of our agreement when we moved enmass to the LP. I have also written to you as chairman because this was our understanding with you then, that you shall revert back to the chairman in the event of our mass exodus to a new party,” it added.

    But, the national leadership of the party distanced the party from Ogboru’s claims. Instead, it suspended Ogboru and 13 others over alleged anti-party activities, gross misconduct and conspiracy.

    The LP National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Salam, dismissed the resignation, saying that Ogboru resigned to an “unfounded and unknown chairman created by him.”

    Salam reaffirmed Ezeagwu as the authentic chairman recognised by the National Secretariat, stressing that he did not receive any resignation letter from Ogboru, but got to know about it on the pages of newspapers.

    The leadership crisis further deepened in last year, following a special national convention of the party and the emergence of a caretaker committee headed by Nkwoala as a parallel structure to the state executive committee led by Ezeagwu.

    The factional National Chairman of the party, Dr. Michael Omotosho, who was represented by his national youth leader, Andrew Ukpebitere, inaugurated the caretaker committee, saying that the Ezeagwu-led state executive committee was dissolved alongside the national executive under the chairmanship of Salam at the party’s special convention in Abuja.

    However, Ezeagwu described his purported removal as illegal, insisting that he remained the chairman.

    Ezeagwu described the national convention as illegal, saying that it was organised by disgruntled elements in the party. He said they did not have a right to organise a national convention in the first instance.

    Ukpebitere urged Ezeagwu to summit himself to the disciplinary committee that was set up to try his anti-party activities and other allegations proffered against him or risk being arrested.

    He said: “Ezeagwu’s constitutional three years tenure has since elapsed. INEC participated in the Special National Convention. The dissolution also affected the executives of the party in Anambra and Rivers states. He will be arrested in accordance with the law if he does not stop parading himself as the state chairman of the party.”

    The chairman of the caretaker committee, Nkwoala while vowing to rebuild the party and make it the beautiful bride ahead of council elections in the state, said his appointment has been communicated to the state Commissioner of Police and the Director of the Department of Security (DSS).

    But, Ezeagwu is optimistic over the chances of the Labour Party at the next general elections. He said the emergence of an authentic chairman at the end of the day will help the party emerged stronger.

    He said: “The main reasons I have gone to court is for the court to pronounce who the authentic chairman of the party is? The LP is strong and on ground .When a judgment is delivered, the LP will field candidates for the forthcoming elections. I have obtained an order restraining Emeka Nwaoala from parading himself as Chairman of the Labour Party.”

    But, with the legal battle between the two gladiators, the party is weakened  and preparations for the  governorship elections is taking a back seat, paving the way for  the ruling PDP  to profit from the festering crisis, ahead of the poll.

  •  Govt warn politicians: don’t deface Abuja with posters

    The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) has warned political parties, politicians and their supporters not to deface the city by indiscriminate pasting of campaign posters on public structures.

    AMMC Coordinator Shuiabu Umar  took the campaign to the head office of the Labour Party in Abuja.

    Umar said: “The essence of our visit is to sensitise Labour Party (LP) and by extension all political parties leadership (in the FCT) on some of their activities. Indiscriminate posters deface our city. We are aware that the elections are coming, and before you know it, so many posters will be everywhere in public places, on peoples buildings and so on.”

    Urging LP to sensitise its members on the imperative to be law-abiding, by not constituting nuisance with indiscriminate campaign posters, the Coordinator further explained: “It embarrasses us especially when foreign visitors come in. Abuja is not the capital of Nigeria only, but Africa and indeed, the black race because in every five black people you meet outside, at least three are Nigerians. It is our city of pride and we are the ones to keep it neat and workable.

    He listed other mandates of the AMMC to include controlling developments in the city by enforcing relevant guidelines; ensure environmental sanitation of the city as well as enhancing green development of Abuja, adding that as human beings, it was incumbent we lived in symbiotic relationship with our environment, adding that his organisation would furnish the political parties with already existing guidelines on proper ways of advertising in the city.

    Director, Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS), Yusuf Ibrahim Yakassai who spoke later decried poster pasting on even signages which are meant for directional purposes, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the city, reaffirming that “pasting of posters is totally illegal in Abuja.”

    Yusuf therefore wondered why some politicians, contesting seats in the states, would come and cover Abuja with their posters, instead of pasting such posters in their respective states.

    The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) Directro, Baba Shehu Lawan while speaking next said: “we have laws in place to arrest originators of the posters and prosecute them, but the Hon. Minister (FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello) has advised that we first sensitise which is why we are here. The importance keeping Abuja clean cannot be overemphasised and the onus is one us to do it.”

    The AEPB boss lamented that some even use certain gums that makes removing of the posters very difficult, even with the use of hot water.

    LP National Chairman Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam appreciated the FCTA in its efforts to maintain the aesthetics of Abuja and keep it clean. He promised to discuss with party members, with a view to ensuring strict compliance with the guidelines .

    He said: “Abuja is for all of us, but when the whole place is messed up with posters that does not even concern visitors; it leaves them with bad impression about our city. Any Labour Party person who places posters will remove them by himself.”

    Abdulsalam urged that the guidelines be produced in local languages that would be easily understood by the people.

  • Delta Labour Party crisis deepens

    THE leadership crisis rocking the Delta State chapter of Labour Party has deepened as both factional leaders have resorted to litigation. A factional chairman, Tony Ezeagwu has already filed a suit at the state High Court in Kwale, praying the court to restrain the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Emeka Nkwoala, from parading himself as chairman of the party in the state.

    In a swift reaction Nkwoala said the caretaker committee which he heads as has also raised a crack team of lawyers to defend the case. He insisted that going by the 2009 constitution of the party, Ezeagwu’s three-year tenure ended in September 2017, adding that a special national convention formally dissolved the Ezeagwu-led executive and inaugurated the caretaker committee in October, 2017.

    “And because Ezeagwu has taken us to court, it shows that he has accepted the decision of the convention, and should therefore stop parading himself as chairman until the court gives a ruling on the matter. “For now, he is still going about illegally claiming to be chairman of Labour Party by operating from the party’s former office. Ezeagwu does not share the ideology of the party, he is neither a trade unionist nor a member of a professional body,” Nkwoala said. But in a swift reaction, Ezeagwu told our correspondent that the court has already issued an order restraining Nkwoala from parading himself as chairman of the party in the state.

  • Labour Party kicks against $1b ECA cash to fight Boko Haram

    Labour Party kicks against $1b ECA cash to fight Boko Haram

    The Labour Party (LP) has kicked against the approval for the release of $1b from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to prosecute war against insurgency.

    The party said the decision to vote such whooping sum for only insurgency “is ludicrous when funds earmarked for crucial sectors like education are grossly insufficient going by globally recognised standards”.

    LP National Chairman Dr Mike Omotosho wondered why the government could only think of spending the huge fund on the fight against Boko Haram when other issues, including abject poverty and hunger are severely ravaging the land.

    Dr Omotosho said: “Take education for instance, University lecturers have been paid half salaries since December 2015 and are being owed N619billion quoting ASUU.”

    Omotosho said the approval for the withdrawal of the fund was coming at a time when the Federal Government claimed it had decimated insurgency.

    He said the idea for the release of the money was ill conceived and makes the government appear unresponsive to the cries of the masses even as security is imperative across the entire country.

    Omotosho said his party had taken stock of reactions of ordinary Nigerians across the divides and maintained that in as much as it was the duty of the government to budget fund for security, the sum of $1billion was outrageous especially for a country that allocates a mere seven percent to education while other African countries’ education budget are in double digits.

    The trained pharmacist said Nigeria is running a democracy where government is expected to be accountable and transparent so that they can gain the trust of the people, who he added,  are the cornerstone of any democratic administration.

    Said he: “As a party that cares about the welfare of the people, we know the importance of winning the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, because of the colossal damage and ruins it has done to our nation.

     

     

     

     

  • We will provide viable alternative to APC, PDP – LP

    We will provide viable alternative to APC, PDP – LP

    The Labour Party said on Saturday it would provide Nigerians with a viable alternative to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections.

    The party said both the APC and PDP have failed Nigerians in their efforts to deliver good governance to the people.

    The National Chairman of the party, Dr. Mike Omotosho, stated these during a chat with journalists in Abuja.

    He said: “People are already complaining. That is why we said we need to come up as the party of the masses, the party of the people and be the voice of the voiceless and give hope to them. It is the only country we have.

    “Let’s look inwards and see how we can build this country called Nigeria. Whether we like it or not it starts with leadership. The power truly belongs to the people. But the people are not aware that the power belongs to them.

    “For the very first time in the history of this country, the Labour Party is poised to provide innovative leadership that will be transparent, that will be accountable, that will be purposeful and most importantly, that will be principled, and responsible to the pains and complains of the people.

    “Whether we like it or not, it’s all about the people. That’s what democracy is all about. Let’s focus for once on the people.”

     

     

  • Probe utilisation of Paris Club refund by states, Labour Party tells FG

    Probe utilisation of Paris Club refund by states, Labour Party tells FG

    The Labour Party (LP) has called on the federal government to probe the utilisation of the Paris Club refund and the bailout given to states. It said the inability of some states to pay workers salaries was an embarrassment.

    Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, National Chairman of the party, Dr. Mike Omotosho frowned at what he described as the inhuman treatment being meted out to workers, pointing out that after working for thirty days, a worker deserves to be paid his wages.

    He said that in spite of the bailout fund and the Paris Club refund to the states, they have refused to pay, thereby undermining the welfare of workers.

    He called on the government to make good its promise to fight corruption in the country by making the governors accountable and making the process transparent.

    He said the recent reinstatement and redeployment of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, was a national disgrace and a ridicule to the anti-corruption campaign of the federal government.

    He said since the President Muhammadu Buhari administration brought him back, they must definitely know where he has disappeared to, and therefore called for his immediate arrest and prosecution.

    “You will recall that Maina was sacked by the last administration and placed on Wanted List. We are calling on the federal government to arrest and prosecute Maina if they know where he is. Since they were the ones that brought him back and reinstated him, they should also bring him out now, arrest and prosecute him,” he said.

  • APC, PDP ‘ve failed Nigerians, says Labour Party

    APC, PDP ‘ve failed Nigerians, says Labour Party

    The Zonal Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Lamidi Apapa, has said the party is prepared to put the country back on sound footing. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have not met the expectations of the people.

    Apapa who spoke during a visit to Lagos chapter said Nigeria would get out of its multifaceted challenges if LP was trusted with power in 2019. He noted LP welfare philosophy puts the party in vantage position to initiate popular programmes.

    Apapa explained that the PDP and APC are the same folk, stressing that former members of PDP formed the bulk of APC membership.

    He said: “That is why the party has not been able to provide the people with the dividend of democracy. Nigerians are losing hope and confidence in the APC led government on daily basis.  “The Nigerian masses are the owners of LP; they should come out to identify with the party. LP is prepared to carry out reforms that will make the country better. I believe that LP can make the country better because the PDP and APC are no longer popular parties.”

    Apapa said the last alliance between the LP and the PDP during the last council election was unfortunate, noting that the party had learnt its lessons.

    He urged the National Secretariat of the party to make funds available, in order to prepare the ground for the takeover of the Lagos State Government House, Alausa.

    He added: “It is on records that the state chapter of the party has not received any amount of money from the national, zonal or other quarters for the running cost. What the Lagos office has achieved so far was through individual contribution.

    “Lagos is mini Nigeria and therefore desire special status. This state is where everything happens politically and otherwise. If our great party is active in Lagos, it is therefore active in Nigeria.”

    “If all Lagos secretariat is given the attention it deserved, we will mobilise the people and we are very sure they will support us take over the governance of this Centre of Excellence,” he said.