Labour Party is distructed by a crisis that may destabilise the party and prevent it from pursuing its cases in court. Assistant Editor EMMANUEL BADEJO, who has been monitoring the situation, reports
It is longer a secret that chieftains of the Labour Party (LP) are not sleeping with their two eyes closed as the party is currently contending with a series of intra-party disputes capable of destabilizing the party. The leadership tussle has split the party into several units barely one month after a contentious presidential election in which it finished third. Things appear to be falling apart for the LP as two persons are claiming the headship of the party that many believed performed beyond the expectation of bookmakers who had predicted that it would not make much impact in the contest.
The performance of Peter Obi, former Anambra State governor and its presidential candidate in the election, took many by surprise. To the chagrin of his other contenders, Obi who was generally regarded as the dark horse in the race upset the applecart. He eventually emerged as the second runner-up in the keenly contested election. Obi and his party have rejected the results and have approached the election tribunal asking for the latter to declare him (Obi) as the winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
But, at a time the party needed to get its acts together to present a common front to contest the election result at the tribunal, the party is experiencing multiple intra-party disputes. It is factionalised and each side making frantic efforts to upstage the other. The two factions have been making allegations and counter-allegations of anti-party activities against one another. There are criminal allegations of forgery against some chieftains of the party. Some of its state chapters have been sucked into the crisis and some commentators have insisted that it is capable of whittling down the party’s support base.
Some of its national officers have been suspended in the wake of this development. For instance, its national chairman, Julius Abure has been suspended by his ward. The matter has been submitted for judicial intervention. The court has ordered that Abure should stop parading himself as the authentic chairman of the party pending the determination of the court case against him and a few others.
Specifically, the High Court, Federal Capital Territory, on April 5, after hearing an ex parte application restrained Abure, Alhaji Farouk Ibrahim (National Secretary); Oluchi Opara (National Treasurer); and Clement Ojukwu (National Organising Secretary), from further parading themselves as party officials. Also, on Monday, April 17, Justice Muazu refused to vacate the interim order restraining Abure and the other officials from further parading themselves as national officers of the LP.
This followed a suit challenging Abure and his co-defendants’ continued stay in office on grounds of alleged fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy. At the resumed hearing of the matter, Abure and his co-defendants in their preliminary objections maintained that the suit bordered on a leadership crisis. Thus, they argued through their counsel, Ben Nwosu, that the matter was an internal affair of the party and that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter. But the court has fixed May 12 to decide on whether or not to lift the suspension order placed on Abure, and other officials of the party. Justice Hamza Muazu fixed the date after taking arguments and objections from various counsels on the matter.
On their part, the claimants represented by George Ibrahim asked the court to dismiss the defendant’s preliminary objection and grant their reliefs accordingly for being meritorious. He informed the court that despite the subsisting interim order, the defendants went ahead and held an executive council meeting. Ibrahim told the court that the claimants had also filed contempt proceedings against Abure, his co-defendants and the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress for allegedly acting in breach of an existing order of the court.
In a counter move, some of the party chieftains are holding on to an order by the Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City that restrained the LP from implementing the suspension issued by some of its party members on Abure till the determination of a motion on notice. In an ex-parte motion, Justice Emmanuel Ahamioje issued a restraining order, while ruling in an ex-parte application filed by George Igbokwe (SAN). Abure and three others against Labour Party and two others, the claimants, among other relief, sought and prayed for an order of interim injunction “restraining Labour Party (third defendants) from acting or executing and/or implementing the purported notice of suspension issued by the first and the second defendants over the subject matter of this suit, pending the determination of the motion on notice. Accordingly, I hereby make an order of interim injunction restraining the Labour Party from acting on, executing and implementing the purported notice of suspension issued by the first and the second defendants over the subject matter of this suit pending the determination of the motion on notice.”
With the uncertainty around the chairmanship of the party, the seven members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) announced the appointment of the National Vice Chairman (South), Lamidi Bashir Apapa, as Acting National Chairman. To assert its authority, a group of party loyalists aided by regular policemen stormed the party’s national secretariat located at Utako to take control of the structure.
In his maiden address, Apapa said his appointment was part of the outcome of an emergency meeting of the NWC which was a sequel to the judgment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court. The court, he said, restrained Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the party.
Speaking further, Apapa said the NWC has reviewed the suspension of party members and executives that were earlier suspended by the Abure-led leadership. Apapa said: “The NWC has equally observed that recently there are some cases of suspensions that were badly handled. And these cases have been reviewed at its meeting and the officers suspended are hereby reinstated. With effect from now, the so-called officers whose the court had barred should not parade themselves as officers of the party until cases against them are treated or handled by the party.”
The Acting National Chairman denied the allegation that the party has been invaded by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the current leadership believes extensively in the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi.
In a swift reaction, the party has also suspended Apapa, and appointed new acting executive members, according to a statement signed by Ms Ladi Iliya, its National Deputy Chairperson and Mr. Kennedy Ahanotu, Deputy National Secretary. They stated that the decision was taken at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party held in Asaba, the Delta State capital and attended by members of the NWC.
During the last governorship primary in Imo State, the division within the party came to the fore as three parallel primaries were held at different venues. While some LP members converged at the Landmark Centre, others gathered at Andre Hotel, MCC Road. Yet, another group was at Chukwuma Nwaoha Junction, also along MCC Road, all in Owerri, the Imo state capital, for the primary. Earlier, two factions of the party simultaneously held parallel screening at different locations in Abuja, ahead of its April 15 governorship primary for aspirants in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa State.
Abure had in an earlier statement, raised an alarm that the ruling APC has provided cover for armed thugs shielded by policemen from Force Headquarters to invade the party secretariat, destroying property and sacking the legitimate party executive in the process.
Abure alleged that the invaders pulled down the fences, burglaries, doors and windows to gain access to the secretariat.
He said: “Though, I was out of town but information has it that the agenda of the invaders was to inaugurate an illegitimate executive which has been chosen for them by their sponsors. A few minutes ago, the national headquarters of the Labour Party in Abuja witnessed a massive attack and was broken into by a detachment of Nigerian Police and thugs believed to be working for the APC. “
He added: “A court of competent jurisdiction ordered that I, Julius Abure remain the National Chairman, and should not be restrained from performing my duties. It, therefore, baffles me why the Nigerian Police should allow itself to be used to perpetrate illegalities. We advise the police, the APC and their sponsors to play by the rules. We will no longer tolerate the often intimidation and deployment of brute forces against the party and their personnel. We demand they put a stop to abuse of power and respect the rights and privileges of other political parties, particularly, the Labour Party to contest for power.”
In a related development, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), an affiliate of the LP, has decried the sacking of Abure and others. The NLC President, Joseph Ajaero, in a statement in Abuja, said the sacking of the LP executives was greatly suspicious.
He added that it cannot be far from the intent to weaken the party from within or distract it from its fight to reclaim its stolen mandate at the polls.
The NLC in its statement said the allegations on which the judge based his ruling on the application were unfounded, unproven and highly speculative and malicious.
He said the allegations of corruption, perjury and forgery were levelled against them by elements whose interest in the party could best be described as doubtful or dubious. He said the ruling was sequel to a motion ex-parte motion filed along the substantive suit by eight so-called aggrieved members of the party, including the LP chairman in Abure’s ward.
The union expressed the view that the judgment was meant to decapitate the leadership of the party with the suspected intent to weaken it from within or distract it from its fight to reclaim its victories at the polls.
The NLC urged the courts to exercise utmost caution in entertaining frivolous suits and spurious prayers from mercenary party members as they are capable of compromising the integrity of the courts. In a bid to avert any possible impact of the lingering crisis in the party in his petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Obi called on principal actors to sheathe their swords. The LP presidential candidate who feared that the festering disagreement could affect the party’s election petition and open ways for external elements to infiltrate its ranks, pledged to intervene towards reaching an amicable resolution of the matter.
On their side, the 36 state chairmen have insisted that the embattled Abure who was suspended by the court remains the party’s substantive chairman. The 36 states chairmen added that the crisis currently rocking the party’s leadership was not about the Abure but aimed at frustrating its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, from emerging victorious at the presidential election tribunal. (Nation)
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