Labour Party crisis: Abure gets support of 36 states’ chairpersons

By Jethro Ibileke

The 36 states chairpersons of the Labour Party (LP), on Thursday met in Benin, the Edo State capital, to reiterate their support and implicit confidence in the embattled national chairman of the party, Julius Abure.

Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, the Kwara State Labour Party chairman, Kehinde Rotimi, insisted that the suspension of Abure falls short of the party’s constitutional requirements for such action and therefore null and void.

He added that it is only the National Executive Council (NEC)-in-Council that has the constitutional powers to suspend the national chairman.

Rotimi who doubles as the Chairman of the LP chairmen across the country, said that they were in Benin City for solidarity with the national chairman who, he insisted, was wrongly accused and not given fair hearing before being recently suspended by some members in his ward.

He said the action was against natural justice.

He said: “The illegal decision to suspend the national chairman by ex-members of the party falls short of the party’s constitutional requirements and therefore it was null and void as it was only the NEC in council that has the constitutional powers to suspend the chairman.

“I therefore advise all to disregard the purported suspension as it was a clear aberration that needs to be disregarded as it falls short of our constitutional requirements.”

“This is the reason why the 36 states Chairmen are gathered in Edo to say no to the illegality by some former aggrieved members who have since left the party to join other political parties and to reaffirm our implicit and unflinching vote of confidence on our chairman, Barrister Julius Abure who has done a great job despite all the intimidation and harassment.”

While thanking Edo people in particular and Nigerians in general for the massive support given to the party during the just concluded general elections, he assured Nigerians that members have put in place every necessary processes to recover their stolen mandate.

Also, speaking, the embattled national chairman of LP, Julius Abure, dismissed his alleged suspension with a wave of the hand.

He noted that the purported suspension was the handiwork of opposition parties who are bent on disrupting and disorganizing the party as they are not comfortable with its huge strength as demonstrated at the last polls.

He remarked: “All the melodrama you are seeing is a clear manifestation of other political parties who are not comfortable with the strength of Labour Party as exhibited in the last elections and are desperately looking for way to discredit the party with a view to tarnish our image.

On his part, the Edo state chairman of the party, Kelly Ogbaloi, noted that the party’s current travails has to do to with the general elections which he said did not reflect the will of the electorate.

According to him, “the dissidents who claimed to have suspended the national chairman are mere instruments in the hands of opposition parties who are bent on distabilising the resurgent party and tarnish its integrity.

Abure also noted that the will of the people was subverted in the last election.

“Today, we have again reaffirm our confidence on our national chairman, Barr Julius Abure, who have stood his ground to take the party from where it was in comatose and to rebuild it to where it is today and we thank him for his resilience in making sure we are where we are today and we are here today to repose more confidence on our chairman, Barr Julius Abure.”