Stakeholders in the Labour Party in Ogun State, on Monday, sacked the Lookman Jagun-led executive and subsequently constituted an interim committee to oversee its affairs.
The stakeholders, comprising of party chairmen at the local government levels and members of the executive of the faction of Labour Party loyal to Sen Nenadi Usman, said the step became necessary following the expiration of the executive since last April.
The Publicity Secretary of the interim committee, Kika Glasgow, disclosed this at a news conference held in Abeokuta, the State capital, that the committee will coordinate the affairs of the party in the state pending the election of substantive executives.
Glasgow said that the sacked executives allegedly mismanaged the finances of the party to the tune of N230 million, ethnicity bigotry among other undemocratic ideals.
He said that “The current institutional crisis necessitating this intervention is predicated on multiple, severe constitutional breaches such as violation of constitutional term limits as contain in Article 16(i) explicitly which limits the tenure of state officers to 2 terms of 4 years each.
“And Article16(iii) states that no member shall serve in the same office continuously – in the case of elected position by Congress and much less in this case by appointment in an interim capacity.
“The continued stay in office of the current leadership, whose caretaker mandate expired in April 2024, constitutes an ultra vires action that undermines our constitutional order.”
Glasgow said that “In a bit to restore constitutional order and in accordance with Article 18 and Article 14(5)(B) the party hereby constitute an interim committee comprising of representatives from all three senatorial districts, mandatory inclusion of women and youth leaders among others.”
The Chairman of the caretaker committee, Samuel Olaolu, in his acceptance speech, said the mission of the new party leaders transcend individuals or any ethnic group.
Olaolu promised that the new leadership would be accountable to the party faithful, saying it is an era of a new dawn for the party.
He said “The circumstances that necessitated this intervention are well documented, but let me be clear: our mission transcends individuals.
“We are here to restore the foundational principles upon which our party was built- integrity, democracy, and service to the common man.”
Olaolu said that for the suspended former leaders, the party’s doors remain open for reconciliation, provided that they subjected themselves to proper accounting and constitutional order.
Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the Jagun caretaker committee of the party, Tokunbo Peters, however, described the allegations as baseless.
Peters said “The Engr Jagun led Caretaker Committee has a mandate lasting till the end of May, 2025, during which period we are expected to conduct Local Government and Ward Congresses.
“I state categorically that the Engr Jagun led Caretaker Committee has never received a dime from Peter Obi or the National Headquarters of the party as election expenses.
“So which money are they talking about? Members of the Jagun-led executive do levy themselves to run the party.
“The moment we addressed a press conference on Saturday calling for the cancellation of the election, their paymasters mobilized them and they organised a kangaroo press briefing announcing that they have removed Jagun from office and suspended our caretaker committee.
“They then appointed themselves into various positions and proclaimed themselves as the new leadership of the party. Most of them are drunkards and a clog in the wheel of the party’s progress.
“Their actions are a nullity because it’s a violation of our party’s constitution and nobody recognises them.”
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