THE tussle for the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) took a different turn yesterday as groups clashed at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.
Trouble began when members of the Edo State Chapter of the party gathered at the party’s headquarters to demand that the National Working Committee ratify the state chapter’s decision to suspend Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman.
However, another group in support of Abure confronted the protestors, almost colliding with the anti-Abure protesters but for security intervention, which kept the situation from worsening.
Though the groups met some resistance, they pull down the barrier and there were no national official on the ground to stop them.
The anti-Abure demonstrators moved from the party secretariat to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver a letter from the Edo State Executive Council calling for action against the party leadership.
Recall that the ward executive of Ward 3, Arue, Utomi, in the Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State suspended Abure last week, but the Labour Party’s national leadership claimed that Edo State executives lacked the authority to do so.
The national leadership of the party contended that Abure’s suspension was unlawful, unconstitutional, and violated the party’s constitution.
