MEMBERS of the political commission of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some congress members on Wednesday last week picketed the headquarters of the Labour Party (LP), where they demanded the resignation of the national chairman, Mr Julius Abure, and a takeover of the party by the labour movement.
The development, which is already threatening the very existence of the party, has, however, been traced to the battle for the presidential ticket of the party in 2027.
Sources within the party said that the decision to move against the leadership of the party was a result of the battle for the 2027 presidential ticket of the party. According to the sources, party leaders have a sharp division on who will pick the presidential ticket in 2027.
Aside from that, there is also the belief that Abure is already sold to the candidature of the former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, even as a section of the party is said to be contemplating how to raise another candidate.
It was gathered that there are two issues behind the crisis. One source said that while some persons believed that the presidential slot should remain in the South in 2027 and that the chairmanship of the party should be immediately zoned to the North, other leaders were of the view that Abure could still be allowed to emerge the chairman and told to resign immediately a southern presidential candidate emerges.
A section of the party was, however, said to be opposed to Abure occupying the chairmanship seat till 2027, as they believed that the man might sit tight when the time comes.
It was learnt that some persons in the labour movement who secretly supported the Lamidi Apampa group’s takeover bid were also working behind the scenes to ensure that Peter Obi was not considered the presidential candidate of the party in 2027. The plan, according to different sources, was to pave the way for another candidate of southern origin in 2027.
A source said that the reasons stated above have combined to create an uneasy situation within the Labour Party, adding that some persons working for the establishment also have hands in the bid to sack Abure.
“The division among leaders of the labour movement is behind the crisis in the Labour Party. You can see when it erupted with the Apampa issue when he instituted a fight to kill Peter Obi’s ambition. That crack is widening and it is already defining the state of the party ahead of 2027.
“Some people have decided to start the 2027 battle very early and that is why they want to take over the party even when the constitution is very clear,” a source said, adding that the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal affirming Abure’s chairmanship should have settled all nerves.
The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Mr Obiora Ifoh, said, in a chat, that the attack on the party’s headquarters by the NLC was an illegal act, adding that the leadership of Abure was doing everything by the law.
He said that the National Executive Committee of the party had in 2023 given the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) a one-year extension, within which it is to organise fresh elections, adding that the planned national convention was in keeping with the deadline of the NEC.
“Some persons have said that the national convention should start from the grassroots. However, the tenure of the NWC and that of the state chapters are not the same. The constitution provides for three years at the sub-national level and four years at the national level. So the elections cannot fall within the same time. By the mandate of NEC, the party has to put in place its NWC through the national convention and then take a look at the situation in the states,” the spokesman said, adding that the national chairman committed no illegality by preparing for the national convention.
He also dismissed insinuations that Abure was trying to perpetuate himself as the national chairman, as according to him, the chairman would be seeking office for the first time if he contests the forthcoming convention.
“Abure would be contesting the chairmanship of the party if he seeks election in the planned convention,” the party’s spokesman said. He added that Abure was named the chairman to complete the remainder of the tenure of the former Chairman, Abdulsalam Abdulkadir, who died in December 2020, and that when the time was up in 2023, the NEC approved a one-year extension for the NWC to enable the party to settle the raging crisis at the time. “Now the party is doing everything possible to organise the national convention before the expiration of the one-year timeline given by the NEC,” he said.
It is felt that the Senate probe would unearth much deeper scam as the North is largely the beneficiary of the controversial actions of the 9th Senate and Buhari’s administration.