The ongoing crisis within the Labour Party (LP) took a new turn as National Chairman, Julius Abure voiced his opposition to the creation of an interim committee.
Despite recent efforts to reconcile party divisions, tensions heightened when Abure labelled the 29-member interim committee led by Senator Esther Nnenadi Usman as “illegal.”
The committee, formed during a stakeholders’ meeting convened by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti and the party’s national leader, Peter Obi, was meant to oversee party operations temporarily.
Governor Otti, who is currently the only Labour Party governor in the country, emphasized the need for the party to avert an internal collapse, which he warned could hinder its future electoral prospects.
A former Minister of State for Finance, Nnenadi Usman, took on the task of leading the committee and promised to steer the party through a “rescue mission.”
However, Abure and the National Working Committee (NWC), which he heads, immediately declared the move unconstitutional.
According to The Nation, though Abure was invited to the stakeholders’ meeting, he chose not to attend.
He later asserted that the meeting and its resulting actions were legally unfounded, describing the committee’s formation as an overreach.
The interim committee includes representatives from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), as well as senators, members of the House of Representatives, and former governorship candidates from across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
Their mandate is to organize the party’s congresses and national convention within 90 days.
During the meeting, which was held at the Government House in Umuahia, Otti stressed that he had no personal stake in who becomes the next national chairman.
He argued that the survival of the party was more important and warned that failing to act could have dire consequences.
Peter Obi, addressing the gathering, called for unity within the party and threw his weight behind the caretaker committee.
He emphasized that the Labour Party, now the third-largest political force in Nigeria, needed to present a united front moving forward.
The NLC’s National Vice President, Salamatu Aliu, also attended the meeting and urged all parties to follow legal procedures in establishing a transition team. He highlighted the need to learn from past mistakes and move forward with clarity.
In a communiqué read by the Labour Party’s 2023 deputy governorship candidate for Plateau State, Edward Pwajok, stakeholders reaffirmed their support for Obi as the national leader and endorsed the caretaker committee to temporarily fill the leadership gap.
They also urged all members with court cases against the party to withdraw them in the spirit of unity.
Senator Usman, while accepting the responsibility to head the committee, promised to unify the party and ensure that they meet their objectives within the stipulated 90 days.
She expressed optimism that the Labour Party could be a strong contender in future elections, including the 2027 presidential race.
One of the party’s leading figures, Senator Victor Umeh, dismissed calls for Obi to resign from his position as a national leader, labelling such demands as misguided.
The meeting was attended by notable Labour Party members, including Senators, House of Representatives members, and leaders from the NLC and TUC. However, the absence of Abure cast a shadow over the gathering.
Abure’s Rejection of the Caretaker Committee
In response to the developments, Julius Abure and his NWC firmly rejected the caretaker committee, calling it illegitimate and unconstitutional.
In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, Abure declared that he remained the lawful chairman of the party.
The statement criticized the meeting in Umuahia, describing it as a “charade” and a waste of public resources.
Abure further argued that neither Governor Otti nor any other individual had the authority to call such a meeting under the party’s constitution or Nigerian law.
Abure also challenged Otti to provide any official communication from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) backing his claims about the need for an interim leadership.
He asserted that there was no leadership vacuum within the Labour Party and that the so-called caretaker committee was merely a construct of the Abia State Government, not a recognized entity within the party.
The statement reads: “As clearly stated in our previous statement, the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, and all others who have converged on Umuahia have no power within the Party Constitution, the Electoral Act and even within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convene any meeting of the Party.
“The combined reading of the two provisions show clearly that the so called meeting in Umuahia is a charade, a waste of time and resources of Abia People.
“The premise on which Governor Alex Otti called the meeting is not only faulty but mischievous. Government business is not transacted verbally but through official communication and correspondences which are done in writing.
“As we speak, there is no communication whatsoever from INEC to the Party as regards any objection to the conduct of the National Convention.
“We challenge Alex Otti to produce the official letter addressed to him from INEC on the subject matter. There is no vacuum in the leadership of the Party.
“Consequently, the so-called caretaker committee set up by the Governor of Abia State is not known to the constitution of the Party and can best be described as a department in Abia State Government House.
“We are shocked to note that the so-called chairman of the caretaker committee is not a registered member of the Party. She surfaced during the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign to assist Peter Obi in his campaign.”