The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Petter Obi, may have dumped the embattled National Chairman, Julius Abure and backed moves to salvage the party.
Obi described the Nnewi convention conducted by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in uncomplimentary terms.
Obi said Abure and other leaders should have consulted more widely on his absence at the National Convention.
Obi, who spoke during an X Space session hosted by Parallel Facts on Friday, said the time had now come for Abure and the party’s leadership to do the right thing to salvage it.
“We promised to build Nigeria; we did not promise to build a new Labour Party,” he jibbed at the Abure-led NWC.
Director General of the presidential campaign team in the 2023 general poll, Akin Osuntokun, in his reaction to the LP crisis at the weekend, described the Nnewi convention as “kangaroo” and the reserved 2027 presidential ticket for Obi as a “Greek gift”, beyond the powers of the Abure-led NCW to give.
He added: “That Obi was not at the convention speaks louder than words. Without Obi, there is no Labour Party.
“What we are likely to have now is three factions of the party, the Abure faction, the Apapa faction and the genuine one with substantial stakeholders that aligns with the visions of Obi and the Obidients.”