A faction of the Labour Party (LP) has described the National Executive Committee (NEC) convened by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, as illegal.
In a statement by its National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, the Party claimed that Obi and Otti are trying to hijack the LP’s structure.
On Wednesday, Otti led a high-level LP delegation to INEC headquarters in Abuja to discuss key developments within the party.
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During a visit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Alex Otti officially submitted a Certified True Copy of the recent Supreme Court ruling related to the Labour Party’s leadership.
In response, Labour Party official Abayomi Arabambi Ibrahim criticized the visit, claiming it revealed what he described as Peter Obi and Governor Otti’s desperation to seize control of the party’s leadership.
He stated, “The Labour Party leadership has become aware of an unauthorized National Executive Council (NEC) meeting orchestrated by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and Peter Obi, the party’s former presidential candidate. They continue to exist in a state of denial, misleading themselves and others.”
He alleged that after the “unauthorized” gathering in Abuja, Obi and his allies proceeded to INEC headquarters in an effort to pressure the commission into taking unlawful actions against the party’s current leadership.
“Their actions show a troubling level of desperation on the part of Peter Obi and Governor Otti in their bid to take over the party structure,” Ibrahim said. “If the Supreme Court judgment truly favors them, why the haste to influence INEC inappropriately?”
He also claimed that during the meeting, attendees suggested offering the current National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, a so-called “soft landing” by proposing he become Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees. Ibrahim dismissed this as irrelevant, asserting that Abure didn’t appoint himself as chairman, and the issue goes beyond individuals—it is about the authority of the party’s internal structures and the rule of law.
He concluded by denouncing the meeting as illegitimate and urged party members and the general public to disregard both the gathering and its resolutions