•Governor Otti of Abia State
Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has called for unity in Labour Party (LP) amid the leadership tussle within the party.
Governor Otti added that all efforts must be made to ensure that the party succeeds.
He made this call today in Abuja during the party’s National Executive Council that had in attendance key figures, including the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, reports Channels TV.
Otti, the party’s only governor, explained that the statutory NEC meeting is coming at the instance of the Supreme Court’s judgement which affirmed Senator Usman Nenadi as the LP National Chairman.
Otti also advised the Julius Abure-led faction to be humble enough and obey the apex court judgment.
“As law abiding people, we felt we should obey the Supreme Court judgment and what we are here to do is to begin a structured process by formalising some key committees like the interim National Working Committee which will oversee all party activities till the party’s convention when elections for a new NEC will be conducted,” the governor said.
The governor also appreciated the NLC for forming the party, claiming that, “Now the party is bigger than the NLC.”
He urged members of the party to be humble and work in unity for the greater good of the party
“I would like us to humble ourselves and recognise that we cannot be bigger than the party.”
In his remarks, Ajaero described the Labour Party as a party for the common man and party members should not be discouraged by some of the challenges plaguing the party.
“Anyone that is not with us and is not working with the Labour force and claims the party chairman is a day dreamer. When the day of reckoning comes we will say we don’t know you,” the NLC President said.
He also reassured members of the party saying, “The council which formed the party is very much with them and we have not abandoned the party. I want us to be focused, not distracted. There is a need to restructure this party, rebrand it because that is the only way this party can work.”
The Labour Party (LP) has been embroiled in leadership tussle pitching Abure and members of his cabinet against Nenadi Usman’s Caretaker Committee constituted by the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, Governor Alex Otti and other elected officials of the party.
In April, a unanimous judgment by a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the LP, having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
The apex court held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction and noted that Abure’s tenure had since expired.
The court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Nenadi and one other and held that it was meritorious before subsequently proceeding to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP for being unmeritorious.
