By Charles Igbo
The crisis rocking the Labour Party has triggered a run in its Enugu Chapter.
On Thursday, it lost its six members in the Enugu House of Assembly to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The six members who defected to the ruling party in Enugu are Ejike Nwa Nsukka, Igbo-Eze North 1, Johnson Ugwu, Enugu North, Princess Ugwu, Enugu South, Pius, Pius Onyeka Ugwu, Nsukka West, Williams Amuka, Igbo-Etiti East and Osita Eze, Oji River.
The defection of the Lawmakers during Plenary on Thursday did not take most people by surprise. On Sunday, they had attempted to dump the LP, but it didn’t quite work out as the venue became rowdy.
Their defection is a product of what the Speaker, Uche Ugwu described as “the existence of irreconcilable division, incessant crisis within the Labour Party at the National level and across all the State Chapters.”
Bemoaning the fate of the Party in which not a few Nigerians had so much confidence in, Ugwu noted:
“Regrettably, the Party has evolved into a state of perpetual discord with various factions embroiled in legal battles thereby undermining its ability to effectively serve the interest of the people.
“The Labour Party once a beacon of hope for progressive ideas has regrettably become synonymous with internal squabbles, thereby reducing its capacity to fulfill the aspirations of the electorate.”
Incidentally LP said it held a National Convention in Nnewi, Anambra State on Wednesday where it reelected Julius Abure as National Chairman by affirmation. But the event was boycotted by its 2023 Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, its only Governor, Abia State’s Dr Alex Otti, representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and most of its elected members including members of the House of Assembly.
The Board of Trustees, BoT members of the Party who also boycotted the Convention, has since distanced itself from the outcome. In a statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade S. Ejiofor, the BoT dismissed the reelection of Abure as a no- event, and said it has taken over the running of the Party.
Why Abure and Co. chose to hold the much condemned Convention in Nnewi where the Party has no stake, remains a question still not answered.
