Campaign Council List Unsettles Labour Party

With the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party engulfed in deep crises following disagreements over the lists of their presidential campaign councils, and the failure to resolve the aftermath of the presidential primary, respectively, Ejiofor Alike writes that the reactions from the other leaders of the Labour Party to the list of the party’s campaign council that was unveiled last Wednesday will determine if the dissent voice of the party’s national publicity secretary will be strong enough to plunge the party into crisis

The Labour Party (LP) last Wednesday attempted to navigate through another booby trap, with the successful unveiling of the list of its 1,234-member Presidential Campaign Council. The unveiling of the list was a no mean feat in view of the crises that engulfed the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which arose from the inability to produce an acceptable list of the presidential campaign council and the failure to resolve the aftermath of the presidential primary, respectively.

While the APC held a free and fair primary, which produced Senator Bola Ahmed as the party’s presidential candidate, the pro-Tinubu forces who were not happy with the pre-primary intrigues by the leadership of the party to stop the former Lagos State governor, have refused to have confidence in the party’s leadership.

The core loyalists of Tinubu fear that the hawks in the party who attempted to stop him from emerging victorious at the party’s primary may not have given up and will go ahead to sabotage his victory in the 2023 presidential election.

The alleged attempt by Tinubu’s loyalists to exclude the party’s leaders and governors from the campaign council has plunged the ruling party into crisis.

On its part, the PDP is also bedeviled with crisis that arose from the refusal of the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike to accept his defeat at the party’s presidential primary in good faith. Since he lost the primary, Wike has utilised the enormous resources at his disposal to create divisions within the party.

But unlike the APC and the PDP, the Labour Party has been able to manage its internal affairs successfully.

The attempt by the party’s former Chairman in Anambra State, Mr. Jude Ezenwafor, to cause confusion by laying claim to the party’s presidential ticket in June was short-lived.

Ezenwafor reportedly won the presidential primary conducted by another faction of the party in Abuja after the emergence of Peter Obi at the May 30 party’s convention in Asaba, Delta State.

While addressing the faction’s delegates, he said he was the only candidate recognised by the party’s constitution.

But following the intervention of many relevant stakeholders, he reportedly stepped down his ambition and offered an apology for joining the race, which was viewed as a threat to Obi’s presidential ambition.

With his withdrawal, the party averted a major crisis. It also debunked the rumour that it conducted parallel presidential primary that produced one Samson Uchenna as its factional presidential candidate.

The party had in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi Oluwafemi in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, noted that Uchenna was a presidential aspirant who withdrew his nominations to support Obi voluntarily. 

Having navigated through its presidential primary without any major controversy, the next litmus test for the party was the constitution of its presidential campaign council, which had torn the APC apart.

At last, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation unveiled a 1,234- member Presidential Campaign Council headed by Mohammed Zarewa as Chairman last Wednesday.

In the list, the Director General of the Peter Obi Campaign Organisation, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who is an ex-aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, retained his position as DG of the PCC.

This was made public by the National Organising Secretary, Mr. Clement Ojukwu, at a pre-campaign press conference in Abuja.

He also named the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Mr. Julius Abure as Chairman of the Advisory Council of the PCC, among others.  

Addressing a press conference just before the unveiling, Okupe said because of the capacity of Obi, the ObIdient movement has rapidly evolved into the biggest voluntary political movement in Nigeria’s history.

However, strong indications that the campaign council list may tear the party apart emerged when the National Publicity Secretary, Oluwafemi, kicked against what he described as illegal, the unveiling of the party’s presidential campaign council by Okupe and a few others, whom he described as people without political relevance.

Referring to Okupe’s position as the DG, Oluwafemi told THISDAY that it was wrong to have a presidential candidate from the South and a DG from the same region, when the party’s manifesto was anchored on equity and justice.

Oluwafemi who had earlier faulted Okupe’s speech, claiming that it was not signed, said Okupe has embarked on a journey of self-annihilation against the position of the leadership of the party.

But in a swift response, the National Chairman of the party, Abure dismissed Oluwafemi’s position, clarifying that it did not emanate from the leadership of the party. 

Abure disclosed that the leadership of the party was fully consulted and fully represented in the campaign council by a good number of the members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by the National Secretary. 

According to him, there is no rift between the party and the presidential campaign council as was being speculated in some quarters.

With the National Chairman of the LP backing the party’s presidential campaign list, many believe that the disagreement may not be as serious as that of the APC where the party’s national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and the other members of the NWC disowned the party’s list of presidential campaign council.

However, the capacity of the LP to manage the dissent position of its national publicity secretary so that it will not snowball into crisis will depend on the strength of the leaders of the party that share his minority sentiments.

The question is: Can the national publicity secretary alone upset the apple cart?  The events of the next few weeks will reveal.

Also, the appointment of Major General John Enenche (rtd), the then spokesman of the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), who claimed that photos and videos from the alleged massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Lekki Tollgate in October 2020 were photoshopped, as a member of Obi’s presidential advisory council, representing the North-central, has also elicited some negative reactions from some members of the OBIdients Movement. However, many other members of the movement have defended the choice of the former Defence Spokesman. 

They argued that no serving military officer in his shoes, should not have said what he said to defend the military and the federal government.

It is believed that the negative sentiments over his appointment will not be substantial enough to turn the apple cart and generate intra-party crisis.