The camp of the Labour Party (LP) led by the National Chairman, Mr Julius Abure, has absolved the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of blame in the leadership crisis rocking the party.
The camp instead accused the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, of fomenting problems in the LP only to turn around and blame the federal government.
Obi, had in an interview granted Arise News on Monday, blamed the crisis in the LP on the federal government, whom he accused of using infiltrators to distabilise the party.
“This is what you get, always, right? This is what you get always in Nigeria, because we now live in a country of propaganda and lies, and they manufacture it.
“The problem we have in Labour Party is a problem instigated and sustained by the government of today.
“I don’t need to tell you when you have a party chairman who calls a state governor a dwarf and dwarf thinking. Forget about me, so it’s not weak.
“Okay, I’m weak, but it’s not weak. Is every other person there weak? So we’re not sincere with ourselves.
“You speak the truth and they call you names. And we now live in a country of propaganda and lies. They are trying to put problems everywhere, they want to even put problems in families”, he said in a response to a direct question on the cause of the crisis in the LP.
But, in a reaction on Tuesday, the Abure camp, through the National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim, downed on what it said was Obi’s penchant for “misinformation” on the state of affairs in the LP by not telling the truth.
The camp challenged Obi to provide proof of how the federal government or the APC was responsible for the crisis.
It stated, “It is therefore pertinent to put on record that the problem with the Labour Party was not created by the ruling party, (APC), rather the problem in the Labour Party was created and sustained by Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, who is presently serving suspension for anti-party activities.
“We dare Obi to produce any tangible or intangible evidence which suggests remotely or otherwise that the Abure leadership of the Labour Party is on the bed with the APC-led government.
“Nobody is infallible and it behoves on anyone who makes mistakes to be bold enough to own it. When good leaders fail, they should own up to their responsibilities. Obi failed in providing leadership for the party. He should own up to his mistakes. It is therefore shameful for Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti to continue to accuse the government of infiltrating Labour Party and by so doing demarketing the party.”
The camp recalled the sacrifices the LP had to make in the past in order to accommodate Obi to contest the election in 2023, expressing surprise how he did not complain at the time that there were infiltrators in the party.
“This same government was in existence in 2022 when the party made six aspirants, including Prof. Pat Utomi to step down for Peter Obi as the party’s candidate. The government was in existence when the party crisscrossed all the nooks and crannies of the country including the insecurity prone areas campaigning for Peter Obi in 2022 and 2023.
“The government was in existence when the national chairman, Julius Abure travelled across Europe and the United States to galvanise support for Peter Obi. The government was also in existence when the party leadership mobilised its members across the state leading to over six million votes won during the election”, it said.
The party also went down memory lane to recount the efforts made to challenge the outcome of the 2023 polls.
It further argued that the LP was at peace until governor Otti and Obi went to Abia State to set up a caretaker committee while the tenure of the Abure leadership subsisted.
The statement the national scribe released on Tuesday, reads more, “It was the same leadership that you claimed has been infiltrated that stood with Peter Obi throughout the tribunal and up to the Supreme Court. The same Abure appeared in court more than Obi refusing to be cowed when a splinter group wanted to hijack the process. The government was in existence when Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti were given sole tickets for 2023 even against the status book.
“For the record, there was no problem in the Labour Party until Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti went to Umuahia, Abia State to create an illegal and unconstitutional Caretaker Committee that polarized the party. And may I ask, is it the ruling party that sent Obi and Otti to Umuahia to create a division in the party?
“They were also aware that the courts; from the lower court up to the Supreme Court clearly affirmed the leadership of the party, but Peter Obi and Alex Otti surreptitiously plotted to hijack the leadership of the party by instigating the division. Again, is it the government in power that created the division or forced them to march to INEC headquarters to exhibit their ignorance?
“For Peter Obi to be responding to the comment where the National Chairman referred to the governor as being dwarfy in knowledge, we want to say clearly that there is no action without a reaction. The National Chairman was only responding to a pejorative comment made by the governor wherein he referred to the National Chairman as ‘masturbating’.
“The governor neither retracted nor apologised for that reckless statement. He showed utter disrespect to the constituted authority of the party; to the man who went out of his way to help him achieve his ambition to be a governor.
“If the governor is not limited or dwarfy in knowledge, he would have appreciated the import of the Supreme Court judgement which practically resolved the crisis in the party but these men were only blinded by their inordinate desire to wrestle the party from the present leadership.
“The party leadership has moved on since the Supreme Court judgement and we are working hard to reposition the party, to restore confidence in our members, and prevent further membership hemorrhage being witnessed across virtually all opposition parties in Nigeria today. We therefore think that it is improper for any member of the party, who means well for the party, to continue to make such unguided statements.
“Labour Party will never go into any alliance with any other party to betray our candidates. We had every opportunity in 2023 to do so, but we chose to stand by Peter Obi and even Alex Otti before and even after the general election, when their matters were in court, but we were very consistent because of the bigger picture. And now that they have failed in their plot to dislodge a lawful leadership, they have simply resorted to blackmail instead of showing gratitude.
“One takeaway from Obi’s interview is that he has acknowledged that Abure is the National Chairman of the Labour Party as he clearly stated. We are therefore calling on Peter Obi and other aggrieved members of the party to understand and digest the fact that Barrister Julius Abure leadership has come to stay and nothing can change.”
Source: Tribune Online
WARNING: If You Are Not 18+, Don’t Click The Link Below 👇🫣
https://disloyalmoviesfavor.com/m3e85u39j?key=f0014e9d9438d5115e4d66e73ca3f04b
https://poawooptugroo.com/4/8902554
Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it.
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.
Never Miss A Single News Or Gist, Kindly Join Us On WhatsApp Channel:
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vad8g81Eawdsio6INn3B
Telegram Channel:
https://t.me/gistsmateNG
