…raises alarm over Abure’s safety
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP), on Monday, sought the intervention of President Bola Tinubu and other well-meaning Nigerians to end the party’s festering leadership crisis, raising concerns over the safety of its Chairman, Mr Julius Abure.
It particularly called out the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, whom it accused of disparaging Abure and threatening to order his arrest for no offence other than sitting as the national chairman of the LP.
Otti belongs to another faction of the LP, which is led by a National Caretaker Committee (NCC) under the control of a former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Mr Peter Obi, also belongs to the Otti camp.
Just last week, the Abure-led NWC had announced the indefinite suspension of Otti and other key members of the party for alleged anti-party activities.
The action came just as the Usman-led NCC set up a disciplinary committee to probe alleged corruption allegations and abuse of office by Abure, whom the faction said his tenure had already lapsed his tenure.
On Monday, the NWC, in a statement by the National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, said Otti had lately threatened to arrest Abure, a move it condemned.
“The attention of the National Working Committee of the Labour Party has been drawn to a statement issued by Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, where he again disparaged the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, and even called for the arrest of our National Chairman.
“We are not only condemning this despicable action of the governor who was recently suspended by the party, but are also seeking the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to persuade the governor from further threats to our party and the leadership”, the statement reads partly.
The NWC pointed out recent decisions of the Abia governor, it claimed, targeted members of the party, who did not agree with him.
It stated, “We ordinarily do not always respond to the rantings of most of our members who are undergoing disciplinary actions but on a deeper reflection and going by recent actions especially by this same governor, we deemed it necessary to point out that several threats coming from the governor and his agents in the last few months must not be swept under the carpet.
“It would be recalled that in the last few months, His Excellency, Dr Otti, had ordered the arrest and detention of our National Vice Chairman, Comrade Ceekay Igara, the state chairman, Prince Ndubeze and other leaders of the party for holding a lawful party meeting in Aba, Abia State.
“In April this year, at a meeting of the disgruntled members of the party held at Transcorp, Governor Otti again threatened Abure and his leadership with a ‘doomsday’ remark.
“His recent threat to arrest Abure and the National Working Committee members for suspending him is one threat too many. We are by this statement, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rein in the governor and to remind him that there is no place for tyranny in a democratic system. We advise Alex Otti to know that ‘Our Lives Matter’, politics or not.
“Through his media aide, Otti also alleged that Abure is a ‘clown in search of a crown’. We are very shocked that the governor could condescend that low, because as at 2022 when the governor joined the Labour Party after he was rejected by virtually every other political party in Nigeria, Abure was already wearing a ‘beaded’ crown.”
The NWC recalled its role in providing a platform for Otti to ride on to become a governor, expressing shock that he later turned his back at the part.
It noted, “As at that time, the National Chairman was already a king, sitting on the throne. As at that time, Abure was already the king who made Alex Otti, who he is today. Abure was already wearing the crown before Alex Otti met us at the party, genuflecting and wearing a humble demeanour, so how can the same Abure now be a clown in search of a crown. Isn’t it trite to say that Otti who has not added value to the party that made him, is actually the clown?
“In case Governor Otti forgot, we were the ones that provided the platform for him, gave him forms, gave him waivers, supported him and campaigned for him. We rejected overtures and several offers which could have ended his ambition. We promoted him, defended his election in the courts until he became the governor. After he became the governor, he abandoned the same party leadership and today, he is dragging the party with us. It will interest you to know that on his swearing in, he could not even pay for the transportation of a few NWC members that attended the function. That was the day we realised we had entered a ‘one chance’ vehicle.
“Talking about the ‘the crown and the clown’, It was this same governor Otti that emptied his entire cabinet including his deputy and all elected state Assembly members to Nnewi, Anambra State, on the 27th of March 2024, venue of our National Convention to ‘crown’ Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, and few months later, he started singing a strange song in a strange land. What a paradox. Who earnestly is the clown here? “
It accused Otti of being on a mission to undo the LP, insisting that the April 4 judgment of the Supreme Court did not remove Abure from office as the chairman of the party, hence the Usman-led NCC had no locus.
The NWC added, “We have repeatedly said that Governor Otti is on a mission to stifle life out of the Labour Party ahead of 2027 general election before making way to his already known preferred destination. If not, why would a governor who has absolute cooperation with the leadership of his party at the centre, a governor who has publicly told the world that God used Abure to make him the governor, suddenly vacillate and somersaulted, and by so doing, unleashed an unnecessary crisis in his own party, where he once called the shots.
“Finally, we want to reiterate that the Supreme Court did not remove Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, neither did it hand over the party to Otti and his cohorts led by Nenadi Usman. The Supreme Court’s position was that the matter of leadership in a political party is not justiciable and that no court has the jurisdiction to entertain party leadership matters because it is purely an internal affair of the party.
“The Supreme Court also did not set aside the Court of Appeal judgement of 13 November 2024, which affirmed Mr Abure as the national chairperson of the party. We are therefore appealing to all our estranged members to allow reasons to prevail and to obey the Supreme Court pronouncement on the supremacy of the party.”
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