The Labour Party (LP) has reiterated that it is not interested in joining any coalition or merger arrangements with other political parties.
The party stated this in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, at the weekend.
Ifoh stated that the attention of the leadership of the party has been drawn to a newspaper publication suggesting that LP is a part or has endorsed the new coalition of concerned political parties that was launched earlier this week.
He claimed the publication quoted one of the LP’s officials out of context by giving a false impression that LP endorsed the coalition.
“The news had it that a group of seven opposition political parties formed a new coalition tagged the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties. As noticed, Labour Party was not represented at the meeting and, therefore, couldn’t have been part of the coalition as suggested by the publication.
“We have continued to posit that the Labour Party is still undergoing a post-mortem of the 2023 general election and until after the exercise, we will not be in a hurry to join the fray of any political arrangement,” the LP spokesman said.
He, however, noted that the party would continue to participate in select meetings of like minds where issues arising from the last general elections would be discussed with the intentions to propose plausible solutions to developments that are threats to the nation’s democracy.
He said: “Labour Party is interested in leading discussions on electoral reforms in Nigeria. We will like to find a lasting solution where a President of Nigeria with a population of over 200 million emerges with less than nine million votes, and with less than 10 per cent of registered voters.
“Labour Party is also interested in finding a lasting solution to a situation where the courts have usurped powers of the electorate. It is frustrating that after all the stress involved in elections on the sides of both the candidates and the electorate, and after securing electoral victories at the polls, three or five individuals gleefully upturn the verdict of the people on the altar of some unfounded technicalities. That is not what democracy preaches.
“On that note, our party will support a meeting or conferences of opposition political parties in Nigeria, which will brainstorm together for the purpose of championing a brand of democracy which will yield power to the people and not to some anti-democratic elements.”
