Being a Text of Press Conference by the Leadership of the Labour Party National Transitional Committee (NTC) on September 11. 2024
We are members of the leadership of the National Transition Committee of the Labour Party. The NTC of the Labour Party is a group fully paid-up members of the Labour Party and the Obedient Movement who have contributed immensely to the development of the Labour Party throughout the years. Many of us in the National Transition Committee are gubernatorial candidates of the party and some of us contested for different legislative offices in the national and state under the party. The NTC emerged after many all-inclusive stakeholder meetings after the end of the tenure of the Abure-led Exco and the crises which his corrupt and illegal administration imposed on the party.
The NTC engaged and mobilized all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the party recovers itself from Abure illegality and corruption. That process bore fruits as INEC, as the regulator of political parties in Nigeria, informed Barrister Abure that his tenure had expired and have made diligent efforts not to recognize him as a Chairman of Labour Party at every meeting of the heads of political parties. In fact, INEC had on occasion asked him to vacate the chair meant for Chairman of Labour Party. These interventions by the NTC has culminated in the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party in Umuahia.
We want to state unequivocally that the National Transitional Committee (NTC) facilitated by the Nigerian Labour Congress as the Trustee of the Labour Party fully accepts and commends the decision of the NEC of Labour Party its meeting on September 4, 2024. We fully support the setting up of a 29-man Caretaker Committee to prepare and conduct democratic congresses to elected party leadership at the Ward, LGA, State and National levels in line with Labour Party constitution and the Electoral Act, 2023. The NEC organized by the Governor of Abia State is the most welcome intervention needed to save the Labour Party at this time from the illegalities and corruptions of the Abure hostile capture. We believe that this intervention is in line with the expression of the democratic will of the millions of Nigerians who ae members of the Labour Party and its supporters, and who does not want the party to die at the hands of political contractors who have been procured to destroy the party.
As expected, Abure and his cohorts have gone to town to spread falsehood about the committee and the state of affairs in the Labour Party. As the group that actually midwifed the current positive result in the Labour Party. We owe Nigerians the duty to present the facts as they are to prevent Abure from running away from his corruption and illegalities which INEC had recognized and confuse the people on the present efforts by the Governor of Abia State and NEC to get the party back to the path of legality and integrity as Nigeria’s favourite opposition party.
1. On Legitimacy Of The Umuahia Meeting:
We want to make it clear that The STAKEHOLDERS MEETING held in Umuahia had every form of legitimacy and transparency. It was called according to the constitution of the Labour Party which bestows on the NEC the powers to file any vacancy that exists before another convention. In fact the meeting has “an overdose of legitimacy and transparency” – the sort of which can only come from the “best leaders who live and breathe integrity and rule of law”.
Anyone who is familiar with the events that has occurred in the party will know that Abure and co had no legal capacity to remain and identify themselves as executives of Labour Party. The tenure was ended long ago and they continued to illegally hold on to power with a clear mandate from his sponsors to destroy Labour Party before the 2027 general elections. But we have ended that illegality and rascality. We have commenced a journey to retrieve and reposition the party through the Umuahia.
We should not forget that our party was thrown into an ‘all-time low’ by the greed and desperation of one man and his few co-travellers, who want to be undemocratic leaders in a democracy – elected leaders without election and due process. Abure and his cohort violated court judgements and Regulatory Agreements signed by both the party and INEC. Unfortunately, they led our party to a dead-end where for three (3) months the Labour Party existed without INEC recognized leadership from June 9th 2024 till the September 4th 2024 Umuahia meeting.
The meeting at Umuahia is constitutionally valid based on the provisions of the Labour Party constitution. You all know that the valid Labour Party Constitution is a public document hosted on INEC Website. Article 14 Section 2B(xvi) gives NEC power: “To fill vacancies in the NWC as they may occur from time to time in between conventions”. The expiration of the tenure of Abure’s NWC on June 09, 2024 meant that they ceased to be members of NEC from that date. But there are other “statutory members of NEC” whose tenure were still valid namely – the Governor and Deputy Governor of Abia State; the President and General Secretary of NLC; the President and Secretary General of TUC; the Chairperson NLC Women Commission (see Articles 14 section 2A from (iii – xviii) and the BOT Chairman and Secretary (see Article 9 section 1C)
Our leaders were required by Constitution to call a meeting of the nine (9) remaining members of NEC to appoint replacements for the vacancies in NWC, but they chose to call the nine NEC members in addition to all elected leaders, candidates in the last general election, and all major stakeholders including even the expired NWC members. In fact, the owners of the party, from the founders to all its leaders from sub-national to national leaders akin to shareholders and Board of Directors in Company’s AGM. That is why I described the Umuahia meeting as “overdose of legitimacy and transparency”, as it met and exceeded constitutional requirements.
2. On The Formation of Caretaker Committee:
It is laughable that Abure will raise objection to NEC/Stakeholders’ appointment of Interim Leadership for LP when himself is a double beneficiary of similar appointments in 2021 and 2023. In 2019, Abure was elected Deputy National Secretary of LP. The National Secretary resigned and Abure became Acting National Secretary. Unfortunately, the National Chairman Alhaji A. A. Salam died in 2021 and the then Deputy National Chairman North Mrs Maria Lebeke became Acting National Chairman. There was also a Deputy National Chairman South – Alhaji Lamidi Apapa. How Abure jumped from Ag. Secretary to National Chairman without election and without valid NEC appointment remains a study in ‘Gestapo criminality’.
So for the records, Abure was never elected National Secretary or National Chairman neither was he legitimately appointed Chairman as there was no constitutional pathway to migrate from Deputy Secretary to Chairman. This will be story for another day. However, his self-imposed emergence in 2021 was to complete the tenure of the late Alhaji Salam which expired in June 2023. Notwithstanding the Consent Judgement and INEC brokered Agreement, Abure deceived the new Party Leaders into appointing his NWC for another one year, which finally expired June 9, 2024.
So, Abure’s NWC from inception to expiry; renewal and another expiry were “Caretaker Appointments” – first tenure illegitimate, second tenure deceitfully obtained. Whereas, the appointment of Distinguished Senator Nenadi Usman’s Caretaker NWC fulfils every aspect of constitutional due process and satisfies the utmost transparency. It is Abure who betrayed all due process and hijacked a political party without election.
3. On Gov. Otti’s Role In Labour Party Affairs:
Abure and his gang attacked the role that Governo Otti played in resolving the crisis that Abure imposed on the party. Anyone who has been following the happenings in Labour Party will not accuse Gov. Otti of not showing sufficient (if any at all) interest in LP affairs or of being against Abure. In fact, many will rather accuse the Governor of being too Pro-Abure. You will recall that while Abure was building his “castle-on-sand” by conducting his illegal Nnewi Convention in violation of Consent Judgement and INEC brokered Agreement; and without any Ward, LGA and State Congresses, the Governor was not aware of the illegalities due to his non-interference and distance from party affairs until INEC banned Abure and his NWC posing existential danger to LP and all her elected officials – the Governor inclusive. Even at that, it took INEC invitation and directives for the Governor to accept to fulfil his statutory duty as the ‘highest elected office holder’ in LP and surviving member of NEC with constitutionally binding duty. So, the Governor has shown great restraint and respect for due process in his intervention. It is Abure who has mistaken commitment to rule of law for condonement of his corrupt and reckless conducts.
4. On Concerns Over INEC Recognition:
The most embarrassing event for Labour Party in 2024 was the day Abure was thrown out of the quarterly meeting of Chairmen of all Political Parties with INEC Chairman in INEC Headquarters Abuja in June 2024. He had attended uninvited. He was also not invited to the August meeting and he dared not attend again. By his own admission in his famous speech delivered at the illegal NEC Meeting of September 9th, 2024 titled “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born”, Abure declared that the Access Code for uploading Polling Unit Agents for Edo and Ondo States were handed directly to the LP Governorship Candidates for those States. These are usually exclusively handed to National Chairmen of Parties but now given to our candidates because we don’t have INEC recognized Chairman. These and many similar situations led INEC to seek Otti’s intervention to resolve the lacuna in Labour Party leadership.
5. On The Composition Of The Caretaker Committee:
Members of the new Caretaker Committee are representatives of the various core stakeholder groups in Labour Party – from founding Labour Unions to elected officials and Governorship Candidates in the last election among others. The Chairman and Secretary are former Senators and Minister whose experience and character lend a breath of fresh air to a party with badly damaged reputation rooted in destructive reputations of its officers. Imperfections (if any) would be corrected in the most decent manner as expected in normal human compositions.
The new Chairman had been a card-carrying member of Labour Party since 2022 before the general elections of February 2023; and she had been contesting and winning state and national elections for decades before joining Labour Party.
6. On The Nullification Of The Umuahia Meeting’s Outcome By Abure:
This is when nullity calls validity null and void. It can only be the ranting of a drowning man. May be, he was enjoying the void created by his indiscretion as a paid Agent sponsored by opposition party to terminate LP.
Otherwise, he must know that solution to this self-imposed harm should rank the party’s interest over and above his personal interest; which by the way is not harmed in any way. For avoidance of doubt, Abure and his NWC are free to contest for any offices of their choice in the Congresses and Convention being organized by the Caretaker Committee.
7. On Abure’s Loss Of Leadership Control:
It is mischievous that Abure refers to Umuahia meeting as the gathering that removed him from office when the truth is that INEC had removed and derecognized him since June 9, 2024. What Umuahia meeting did was to ‘commence treatment’ on the terminal illness imposed on LP by Abure and co. His utterances and actions since the meeting is a revelation of the dangers we lived with without knowing it.
8. On Abure’s Fear Of Diminished Influence:
Those must be imaginary diminished influence because he has a choice – to toe the path of honour and quit while the ovation is still loud or walk down the valley of dishonour by holding onto an expired non-existent office and sacrifice whatever influence and dignity he acquire from the Office LP National Chairman.
Let me remind him that no politician in Nigeria, and I dare say Africa, drags popularity or influence with our Party’s National Leader H.E Mr. Peter Obi; and Abure may do well to note that PO was never as popular or influential as he is today while he was in office as Governor. He grew in popularity/influence by his dignified conduct out of office – quitting while the ovation was loudest, refusing to collect his exit pension largesse, charity works, dedication to public good among others lifted him. A valuable lesson for Abure and co is that influence is earned, not given or taken. And it is better to be a part of an elephant than the whole of an ant. More so, democratic Chairmen are elected not self-imposed; the chance to emerge elected Chairman of LP is not diminished but now more credible.
9. On Damage To Party Unity And Image:
The emergence of Nenadi Usman led leadership for LP has not created any parallel leadership for labour party. It is a child of necessity born to fill a vacuum wilfully created by expiry of Abure;s NWC without valid elections to replace them.
This new leadership is strictly for purpose of organising congresses and convention to elect new leaders for the party – an assignment Abure had opportunity to do but chose not to, until their tenure expired.
It must be stated that Labour Party is bigger than any individual or group and its interest supersedes those of any individual or group. Abure’s dream of factional leadership of LP is only imaginary, as he is standing with only those he had appointed ‘unopposed’ at national and sub-national levels. Unknown to him, even those are lobbying for accommodation in the new leadership/followership. He will soon look back and realize that he is standing alone.
Millions of Nigerians joined or became sympathetic to LP because of Peter Obi Profile and the good work Gov. Otti is doing at Abia State. None did because of Abure and his gang. If anything, a lot of Peter Obi admirers had left LP because of the negative influence of Abure. He will do well to bow out with honour and enjoy his constitutional entitlement of elevation to Board of Trustee (BOT) reserved for all former National Chairmen without dishonour and criminality. This privilege guaranteed by Article 9 of LP Constitution will be extinguished by forceful exit and probe.
We assure all members and supporters of the Labour Party that the party has been recovered from the illegitimacy and illegality under the hand of Abure. Now, that a caretaker committee of the party members appointed legally by the NEC of our party to prepare and organize a democratic convention based on democratic congresses to elect party officials, we are now in the good position to mobilize and prepare Nigerians to replace the failing APC government and install a people-oriented and truly progressive government that will secure Nigerians and end the ravaging spectre of poverty. It is obvious that Abure and his followers are working to truncate the progress of the labour party. They will fail because all actions taken at the Umuahia meeting convened by the Governor of Abia State and other remaining members of the BOT are in line with the constitution of the Labour Party, the Electoral Act and the directive of the electoral umpire, the INEC.
We advise Abure and his cohort to be wise and come back to the fold and show gratitude for the party that tolerated their illegally regime and have not decided to cure the party of such illegitimacy caused by their illegal hijack of power.
A WORD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE AS A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE.
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