Appointment Of Interim LP  National Leadership: “We Have Been Betrayed” – Abure

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The ousted Barrister Julius Abure Labour Party-led  National Working Committee, NWC, on Monday September, 9, 2024, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to halt forthwith, its subtle and overt support for Governor Alex Otti’s efforts at undermining the party.

This is even as it announced the withdrawal of the offer of “Choice of First Refusal ” earlier extended to Peter Obi and Governor Otti at  the controversial Nnewi Convention earlier in the year.

The Source reports that the Abure-led LP leadership had, during the Convention, ruled to reserve its 2027 Presidential candidate slot for Obi and the Abia State  Gubernatorial slot for Dr Otti, both of whom along side other major stakeholders shunned the Nnewi Convention.

Rising from its emergency meeting on Monday, the first and direct consequence of its ouster in Umuahia on Wednesday September 4, the Abure-NWC described the Governor Otti-led efforts as illegal,null and void.

In a Communique read by its Deputy National Secretary, Innocent Okeke, the Abure-led NWC urged the  Professor Mahmoud Yakubu led INEC to stop “aiding and abetting Governor Otti,against the party”.

The Source further reports that at the extended Umuahia  National Executive Council/Stakeholders meeting which also featured Obi and his running mate, Datti Ahmed, and members of the LP National Assembly caucus, Former Finance Minister, Nenadi Usman, from Kaduna State was appointed at the  head of a-29 man Interim Committee to midwife an all- inclusive National Convention for the party within the next three months.

The Monday Communique blamed the  Electoral body for the events that culminated in the convocation of the Umuahia meeting and the  subsequent outer of the Abure NWC.

The Abure-led team insisted that Governor Otti’s position on the tenure of its NWC was predicated on the INEC Chairman’s insistence that it has fully served its mandated period.

The Communique stated that a disciplinary committee has been set up to further consider cases of anti-party activities, just as a reconciliatory body has been established to woo back aggrieved members .

Further addressing the media at the party’s National Secretariat, embattled Abure reaffirmed the constitutionality of the  Nnewi Convention, as well as its out come.

He insisted that he remains the authentic leader of the party, regardless of efforts to undermine both his leadership and the party.

He vowed to remain steadfast and committed to the task of moving the party to greater heights.

“I stand before you today with a heavy heart, but with an unshakable resolve to defend the party. I stand not just as your National Chairman, but as a guardian of the principles that hold our great party together- Principles of unity, justice and integrity.

“We are at a critical moment in the life of our party. Recent events have shown that those who should stand with us in the fight for a better, restructured, organized and united party,have chosen a different path.

“A path not of unity, but of division I speak ,of course, on the illegal gathering that took place in Abia State, an attempt to create a rift within our party, led by none other than their  Excellencies, Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti.

“This meeting held without the authority and/or consent of the National Executive Council, sought to install a so-called new leadership l.

“Let me be clear: this action was not just illegal, it was a betrayal of everything the Labour Party stands for. A reward for loyalty with ingratitude ,a reward for support with insubordination.

“The Labour party has always been a beacon of hope for the oppressed, the marginalized, and the voiceless in Nigeria. Our mandate is to unite this country, not divide it.

“Yet, here we are, faced with a situation where individuals who have benefited from the trust and support of this great party now work to destabilize it from within. This is why I say the beautiful ones are not yet born in Nigeria.

“For those who have chosen to align themselves with this illegal action, I urge them to reconsider. The action of creating division is not just a political manoeuvering, it is a dangerous game – a game that if allowed to continue, will dig a hole too deep for us to climb out from, for, division within the Labour Party is a division within Nigeria”, Abure stated.