Labour Party State Chairmen Take  Back Party National Headquarters 

 •Say Abure remains national chairman

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

The crisis rocking Labour Party took a fresh dimension yesterday as 28 state chairmen of the party took over the national secretariat of the party in Utako Abuja to again pass a vote of confidence on the suspended National Chairman, Julius Abure.

The members of the party National Executive Committee (NEC) who stormed the party national headquarters forced their way into the secretariat where they later addressed journalists. 

The move came less than 24 hours after a factional body of the party National Working Committee on Thursday took over the secretariat and thereafter announced the replacement of the suspended National Chairman, Abure, with the National Vice Chairman (South), Lamidi Bashir Apapa, who they said would be on acting capacity for the time being.

Meanwhile the factional body of the party led by Apapa has declared support to help the presidential candidate of the party for the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, to ensure the recovery of his mandate in the court.

However, 28 chairmen of the party led by their spokesperson High Chief Kehinde Rotimi stormed the secretariat and forcefully reclaimed it.

Addressing journalists at the secretariat, Rotimi said they were surprised over reports of the invasion of the party secretariat in Abuja and they have come to reclaim it. 

He alleged that they destroyed properties and carted away documents, describing the act as unruly.

“We were told that they went to court and took a particular order but they did not wait for the court to determine whatever motion of notice, they took laws into their hands to come and destroy our secretariat.

“That is why we as very important organ of NEC, the council of chairmen in the party which constitute NEC along with the members of our party have decided to come here to do an on the sport assessment and on getting here we discovered that these sets of hoodlums, some of them have been suspended and are no more members of our party. 

“Some of them sold our party to other political parties. The party is still investigating to see that they have violated our rights as a political party and they have gone all around to intimidate us with security agencies. 

“We are saying that we cannot be intimidated, we cannot be cowed. Labour Party has come to stay in Nigeria, we want to advise all political parties to allow us, leave us alone. 

“We want to tell all the security agencies not to turn to political party members, because the police are not party members so they should do what is right according to the rule of law. 

“You cannot be a judge in your own case. They want to be judges in their own case by taking the law into their own hands and that is why we are here with our entire members from all over the country to counter this obnoxious and evil move to derail us from pursuing the mandate that Nigerians have given to us.

 “Nigerians gave us their mandate on the 25th of February 2023 and on that mandate we stand. That is why we believe in the rule of law and that is why we have gone to the tribunal. 

“Instead of creating diversion and division in our party we will not agree. That is why we are telling the whole world we have begun the legal process on this evil and barbaric act,” Rotimi said.

The Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the party, Cashmir Uchenna Agbo, who also spoke at the briefing described the incident as very unfortunate because the Labour Party is a party of rule of law.

He said, “Our principal has maintained that we must be guided by the constitutional provisions and the laws of this land and the party.

“It is very unfortunate that those who have run this party for many years are doing acts of brigandage and criminality in terms of enforcing their own right.

“The position of the party and the mechanism in the resolution of crises is very clear, in the constitution, you have to exhaust that mechanism in court. You go to court and obtain a court order and you want to enforce that order by yourself. It is very unfortunate because there are frivolous provisions of the Act. 

“What I’m saying in effect is this that they mixed criminality with civil process and the court that gave them that order is aware there’s law because there are plethora of such cases that once you have element of criminality in any motion, you just put the other party in notice, so that he could be heard.

“You cannot shave a man’s head in his absence. You have done this to this party, we are referring to a party in particular in this country that is known for criminality and brigandage. And that is All Progressives Congress.

He advised APC to leave the party alone, “we won this election free and fair by Peter Obi.

“We are challenging the outcome by INEC in court. They should allow the court process to finish. What they are doing is to enforce their will and distract Labour Party nationwide and withdraw the case in court.

“On this note we are saying that Julius Abure is the authentic Chairman of Labour Party in Nigeria. And there is nobody except NEC that can remove Abure.”

On his part, Chairman, Edo State LP, Ogbaloi kelly explained that the NWC was a “subordinate organ to the NEC of the party therefore, when a faction of it is coming here to take laws into its hands it becomes a total nullity. 

“When those who are taking this action are members of the party who have since been suspended by the party, and as at the time they took this action, the suspension had not been lifted and therefore, we are saying here that the 36 chairmen around the states have come to take their possession. 

“These miscreants led by Apapa to this place are not people who have authority to control this matter but this detachment here has the authority in law to be in charge of the party and we affirm that Comrade Barr. Julius Abure, is the party chairman and it remains so. 

“NLC as of today has confirmed that I’m their communications and so we have come here to tell the people of the world that the action of this faction, is a total nullity and should be disregarded because the action does not follow the content of the rules and constitution of the Labour Party.

“We have 28 chairmen here now. Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Ebonyi, Delta, Kwara, Benue, Ondo, Nasarawa and others,” he said.

Meanwhile the DPO of the Utako l Division, Gregory Victor, explained to the protesters that his men took over the secretariat to prevent the breakdown of law and order.