• NLC, NASS caucus, Apapa faction unite against Abure
• INEC doesn’t have to monitor party convention- Abure group
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Leading stakeholders within the Labour Party appear to have joined forces to ensure that the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, is relieved of his position. For a long time, the party has been embroiled in a series of crises, seemingly unable to break free from the cycle of internal strife and external challenges.
The recent source of unrest in the party revolves around the contentious national convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State, where Julius Abure was re-elected as the National Chairman.
Many of the party’s members, including its leader, Mr. Peter Obi and those at the National Assembly, had kicked against the convention, calling for its postponement until a wider stakeholder engagement had been done.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which is the custodian of the party, had also strongly protested the convention and even called for the sack of Abure, accusing him of illegalities and fraud. TheNLC picketed the party’s secretariat in Abuja to register the congress’ displeasure over the matter.
NLC’s spokesperson, Bemson Upah, declared the election invalid due to legal deficiencies and violations of a previous agreement between the party and NLC.
According to Upah, “The convention is not recognized by law. It is an illegality and by virtue of that, a nullity. So the outcome is not known to law. In fact, as far as we are concerned, both the moral code, the legal code, Abure does not exist in the context. The process of the convention did not meet the requirements of the law.”
The NLC spokesman said: “Abure has crossed the red line, so he is gone just like fuel subsidy. There is nothing Abure can do that will remedy his situation. He is an incurable case.
“The party is not in his hands. NLC says no, TUC says no, the House of Rep caucus says no, everyone is standing against him except maybe those ones that he hand-picked and then wrote their names on a piece of paper. Are you aware that at that convention, they did not even allow the media into the venue? That is to tell you that there was no convention. You are aware that even INEC did not dignify them there with its presence. Every stakeholder of repute issued a disclaimer.”
Yunusa Tanko, spokesperson of the Labour Party Campaign Organisation in the 2023 elections, said Abure did not heed Peter Obi’s advice on conducting an all-inclusive convention. He also disclosed that the current crisis rocking the party could have been prevented if the leadership had taken Obi’s advice.
He said: “Mr. Peter Obi has actually advised right from the beginning when they said they were holding a convention that a stakeholders’ meeting should be held where the party would sit with the NLC, TUC, the Obidients, the consultative forums and all groups. But they did not respect his recommendations. And remember, there is an agreement written by Abure himself and the former President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba for a new national convention which is called ‘the unity convention’; the unity convention is supposed to start from the ward level to the national level.”
It was also gathered that the Board of Trustees was supposed to be inaugurated as one of the building blocks that needed to be put in place. “The implication is that there would be a ward to local government attainable building of structure of the party that will take care of all the issues of agents, members that can campaign at the grassroots directly.
“The convention is not recognised because Obi did not go, Alex Otti did not go, most members of the National Assembly did not, neither did INEC,” Tanko said, adding that to achieve peace, the party must revisit and fully implement all aspects of its agreement with the NLC.
Some party leaders also stressed the need for stakeholders to go back to the agreement, which is in the custody of the dispute resolution department of INEC and for which reason INEC did not attend the convention.
Similarly, Hon Afam Victor Ogene, Leader of the Labour Party caucus in the 10th Assembly of the House of Representatives, described the convention as a mere jamboree and noted that Abure and the National Working Committee disregarded the lawmakers’ advice by not postponing the event.
He suggested that the best course of action would be for all party stakeholders to collaborate and devise a solution collectively.
According to Ogene, “I do not think that we have any problem in the party. It is only a matter of process and for us in the House of Representatives, we simply asked for a shift in date of the convention as proposed by the National Chairman and the National Working Committee. Secondly, we deemed it fit that there should be wider consultations among stakeholders. That was our position before the so-called convention.
“But apparently, it did not sit well with the National Chairman and the NWC and they went ahead and held the so-called convention. And like we told them, a convention is supposed to be bottom up: from the wards, to local governments to state and in some cases, to regions and then the national.
“So, the question one would ask is: who elected the delegates to the convention? Ours was merely advice and since it was not heeded, the bulk of my members did not attend. We have all seen that after the Nnewi jamboree, INEC has come out to say that it did not follow due process. Till date, I do not know what the response of the Labour Party is to that.
“Our national leader, Mr. Peter Obi has also advised that there should be wider consultations among stakeholders. Nobody has refuted his position.
Meanwhile, Dr. Arabambi Abayomi, Spokesperson of the Apapa Lamidi led faction of the Labour Party, stated that the conflict between NLC and Abure has validated their stance against the National Chairman. He insisted on an apology from the NLC for previously fighting his faction and pledged to collaborate with the congress to confront Abure.
“The NLC said we were accusing Abure without any court conviction. So which court convicted him now that they want to remove him over fraud allegations? We are just after equity because he who comes to equity must come with clean hands,” he said.
But Prince Kennedy Ahanotu, National Youth Leader of LP, speaking for the Abure group, attributed the uproar against the leadership of the party to conflicting interests of individuals. He stressed that NLC lacks the authority to dictate LP’s affairs just because it registered the party, adding that most agreements between the two sides have been honoured, except for the delayed Board of Trustees inauguration due to the calibre of representatives appointed by the NLC.
He also averred that INEC’s absence at the convention does not nullify the outcome as it is only an optional requirement and not mandatory by law.
Ahanotu urged discontented members to collaborate with the new leadership to strengthen the party, noting that there are on-going consultations to resolve issues and restore peace within the party.
He contended that it is not in the position of NLC to declare a convention null and void. “We are not talking about workers welfare. We are talking about political engagement – talks about membership of political organisation. So it is only members of the Labour Party that have sufficient interest and stake in that party that are in a position to say that the convention is invalid. There is no institutional membership of a political party. There can only be individual membership.”
