The Anambra State chapter of the Labour Party has described the sealing of its party’s secretariat by the state government as illegal, obnoxious and intimidating.
The Secretary of the party in the state, Chief Okoli Akirika, in a statement on Tuesday said the action was carried out without any form of engagement with the party.
He informed that the sealing of the party is not unconnected to the September 28 Local Government elections which he accused Prof Soludo’s government of attempting to truncate.
Chief Okoli however appealed to party faithful to remain calm and lawful, assuring that the leadership would recourse to due process to contain and checkmate the unprovoked and untrammelled illegality.
The statement reads, “The Anambra State Government has sealed the Labour Party Anambra State Party Office in Awka.
“The action which was carried out now was done without notice, warning, nor any form of engagement with the Labour Party.
“The agents of the Anambra State Government accompanied by men dressed in soldiers uniform stormed the Labour Party Anambra State Office and in a maniacal, frenzied and frenetic commando like operation, chased away the staff in the office and sealed the office
“It is rather unfortunate, bizarre, and brazen that the Anambra State Government, which is fruitlessly seeking to truncate statutorily emplaced procedures to select Local Government Chairmen and councillors in the deviously convoluted LG election, is now mindlessly resorting to underhand, illegal and obnoxious intimidation.
“While appealing to teeming Labour Party members, supporters, sympathisers, stakeholders and Ndi Anambra in general, the State Leadership of our great Labour Party shall, as law abiding Anambrarians shall have recourse to due process to contain and checkmate this unprovoked and untrammelled illegality.”
But, reacting to the allegations by the Labour Party through the State Commissioner for Information, Chief Paul Nwosu, the state government debunked the claim, saying that the government couldn’t have sealed the Labour Party office.
Nwosu further stated that he was not aware of the sealing of LP’s office and wondered why the government would seal the labour party office.
“No, I am not aware of it, I just came out of a briefing by the state government, there was nothing said to that effect.
“Why would the state government seal the labour party office? We did not, we couldn’t not have sealed labour office, not when Anambra state was the first to set up a labour friendly committee.
“It is incongruous and unthinkable that Anambra state will go and seal the labour office, what for?” he said.