…Members bicker, tackle leaders

• Obi, Otti ungrateful, says Ayo Olurunfemi, Deputy National Chairman

• You’re impostor on payroll to destroy our party, Theophilus Ndubuaku, acting Chairman of NLC, Political Commission, fires back at Olurunfemi

• Reveals why NLC has not taken over LP national secretariat

 

 

 

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

The lingering internal crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) took a dramatic turn as the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Dr Ayo Olurunfemi, has described the suspension of key figures, including Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti and the National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara and a few others, as best decision made in recent times, citing the need to “sanitize the party.”

 

 

But in a swift rebuttal, the acting Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku, dismissed the action, branding the leadership as “confused impostors” in an escalating war of words threatening to further destabilize the opposition party.

Olorunfemi is first to speak to our correspondent.

Why do you think suspending some of your critical assets, elected members of your party, will bring unity to the party?

Yes, you see, people don’t understand that when you help an ingrate and instead of reciprocating your help, he wants to destroy you. So, purging such a fellow out of your system will give you relief. That was exactly what we have done. Not all the people we accommodated, who were rejected by PDP, behave the same way. For example, we still have people who joined the Labour Party from the APC, and they are still with us. It is not only the house members who are crazy. It is not all the senators who are ungrateful. So, we still have a lot of people who believe in the ideology of the Labour Party. Before 2023, we had only one House of Reps member. Today, we have several of them and the senators who are still with the party. So, if those few ones are planning to destroy the very foundation they built on, then it is better to remove them. Obi himself has shown that he is not a good leader; he cannot unify just a political party. Instead, he is the one dividing them. Those people are unfit to lead Nigeria. They went to Umuahia and conducted what they called stakeholders’ meetings. Have you ever heard of a stakeholders meeting in Nigeria that turned into a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting? Thank God we didn’t attend that meeting. Only Alex Otti and his deputy were at that meeting. They have only one vote each, making two votes in a party of about 210 people who make up the NEC. Obi is not a member of the NEC, no matter how powerful he may think he is. So, he cannot call NEC. If we are inviting him to the NEC, that is on personal recognition.

What are you planning to achieve with this development?

The Abure-led leadership is trying to sanitise the party because we are different from other political parties, and we will continue. Thank God the law is on our side. Any lawyer who studied Logic must know that the Supreme Court has not sacked Abure. It did not say his tenure has expired. Is the Supreme Court afraid of Abure that they did not say his tenure has expired?

Don’t you think all these back and forth will affect your candidate in the coming governorship election in Anambra State?

We have conducted our primary in Anambra, and we have come up with the best candidate who will serve the interest of the people of the state. One thing about our party is that any governor elected under this party must perform excellently. If Alex Otti can be doing what he is doing in Abia State, delivering good services even under bad governance, you can imagine someone with good character, someone with proven pedigree, will do to give Anambra the best governance. So, the person who is going to lead Anambra is a man of proven capacity and capability because he has done well in several leadership positions before now. It is left for the Anambra people to put sentiment aside and give their mandate to the man who can deliver better dividends of democracy to them.

Having gone through all the courts in the land, one would expect that the crisis would have been over by now, unfortunately, it lingers. What are you people not telling Nigerians? What is the real issue?

Let me tell you. The battle started between Peter Obi and Alex Otti. There was mutual suspicion. When we were preparing for the delegates of the convention, both of them were fully involved. At the point of execution, this mutual suspicion arose as one of them wanted to hijack the party and run away with it. What they don’t know is that the Labour Party cannot be hijacked. Obi came up with pranks that we should postpone the convention for more stakeholder discussions, apparently to delay us, and we refused to be delayed. We asked him what he meant by stakeholders. At the same time, Otti sent his deputy to chair that convention. All his commissioners were present. All his state assembly members were present. Now, can you sign an agreement and say that the agreement is not binding? You cannot chair a meeting where a decision was made and turn around to say that decision is not relevant. After that convention, there was an issue between the supporters of Otti and Obi. They then came up with what they called a stakeholders meeting. That is the genesis of the matter. Alex Otti is the governor of just one state. We have 35 other states. So, he is not the governor of Nigeria. In our constitution, the national chairman is the highest-ranking party official, followed by the deputy national chairman. You don’t become a leader by imposing yourself, you earn it. Alex Otti has not earned it, so his position remains third in the party.

At what point did they come together because they are friends now?

It was when they discovered that they were losing out. I can tell you that if you can see the heart of Peter Obi, I’m sure he’s regretting now that he has been deceived. Let me paint a scenario. As the deputy national chairman, if I convene a stakeholders meeting and bring about 200 loyalists together, do I have any right to convert that meeting into a NEC meeting? That was the offence they committed, and it is a crime. And these are the kind of people who want to govern Nigeria.

What is the way forward?

We are not going to beg anybody. They can come if they wish. We are humans, and we can make mistakes. If you realise your mistake and you dare to say sorry, then you can lead Nigeria. We don’t want arrogant people.

But Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku faulted him in the chat below:

Barrister Julius Abure-led factional leadership of the Labour Party recently suspended some politicians elected under the party’s platform in 2023, including the Abia State governor, Alex Otti. Where is this leading your party to?

The truth is that all of us have a stake in building Nigeria, including the journalists. Nobody is blind or deaf to what is happening in this country. A few days ago, someone like former President Goodluck Jonathan was warning that it is dangerous to keep pushing Nigeria the way it’s currently being pushed. All of us know this, especially those of you in the media. Nigeria is being pushed toward becoming a one-party state. For what purpose? This is a multi-ethnic country. And it’s not as though this shift is happening through conviction or free choice.

How do you mean?

It’s happening through coercion, through blackmail. People are being forced or manipulated into joining certain parties just to suppress the others. You’ve heard it, some people are even being paid to destroy viable political parties in this country. We all know it; every Nigerian has seen it. It’s no longer hidden.

Imagine a governor, elected by his people, and his entire assembly suddenly declaring for another party, without consulting their constituents or respecting the rule of law. It’s happening, and we are all witnessing it. What’s happening now is the same kind of thing we’ve seen before, even within the PDP. Unfortunately, the pattern continues.

The truth is that the focus now outside of Abure’s leadership is clear. The Supreme Court ruled that if your tenure has expired, you should step aside. So, everyone in the media, please stop referring to Abure as the functional leader or party leader. Find a more accurate term. ‘Impersonating a leader’ would be the most appropriate. If you write that “the impersonating leader of the Labour Party made such a statement,” then the public can better understand the situation within the context of the Supreme Court’s judgment. The press should do the needful. Use the correct label, call him “the sacked Labour Party leader,” or “the Supreme Court-removed chairman.” That’s what he is. All of us need to come together to build this country because the direction we’re headed is dangerous. If Abure is being used, then the media must make it clear that he’s acting beyond reason and against the law. So, how could a sacked Abure suspend elected members of the party?

Just to clarify, are you saying that if someone is an impostor, they cannot suspend authentic members of the party?

No, no! If you refer to him as an impostor who is suspending party leaders, then readers will understand that it is a charade, a complete joke. This is the case of someone unhinged, deranged, acting outside all legal and moral norms. If the Supreme Court issues a judgment and someone still comes out to say they are removing the only governor, senators, and House of Representatives members the party has, then it’s obvious: the person is an impostor. He’s likely on someone’s payroll, doing their bidding.

Prof, moving away from that now, the concern is just as you said earlier, what is Labour Party going to do differently? Because by now, after going from the federal high court to the Court of Appeal  and finally to the Supreme Court, the party is still in disarray, is there any way forward?

Yes, there is. The truth is that we now have a Supreme Court judgment. The whole world, not just Nigerians, is watching INEC. It is up to INEC to comply with the judgment.

INEC recently said it has not identified with a particular leader based on that court judgment…?

Let’s not forget that this is a party of the masses of the workers. INEC must not push the people to the point where they rise in anger. The Labour Party belongs to the people. Remember, the NLC President once said: “We are only taking our time, because we want a society governed by the rule of law.” Nigeria is not a jungle. So, if there is a Supreme Court judgment, and the body responsible for enforcing it refuses to act, it is provoking the people. And I’m sure you’re not happy that someone is flagrantly flouting the rule of law in our great country. We can’t just sit back and clap while some people push Nigeria toward anarchy. Nigerians are watching. The world is watching. Even within APC, not everyone is pleased that a Supreme Court judgment is being ignored or obstructed by the regulatory body. We’re all waiting for INEC. We hope this won’t take too long. But everyone is now asking: How long does it take to study a Supreme Court judgment that is so clear? So, while INEC is “studying” the judgment, Abure is taking the law into his own hands.

What did you mean by workers may rise if provoked? What is their business with party leadership?

The Labour Party was founded, promoted, and registered by organised labour. Emphasis on “organised.” That means it doesn’t take us long to mobilise. A directive from our leadership can activate our structures from the ward to the local government level in a matter of days. We are not like other political parties that scramble to organise. We already have the contact details of all our members nationwide. We can disseminate information instantly to millions of our members overnight.

Do you think this game will soon become a thing of the past, especially with the Anambra governorship election coming up?

Yes, absolutely. Like I said, this is a party backed by organised labour. In the coming days or weeks, once the directive is given, our members across the country will mobilise for congresses and other party activities. Remember what the Labour Party looked like before Peter Obi came in? Yes, it wasn’t this vibrant. But when he was endorsed by organised labour, the political atmosphere changed. Within months, Obi won the 2023 election. There’s no debate about that. Before the so-called “technical glitches” appeared, it was clear he was heading toward victory, especially in strategic areas like Lagos and Abuja. Then, suddenly, those glitches were introduced to distort the outcome. What I’m saying is that we’re prepared. There’s no cause for alarm.

But Abure is the one occupying the Labour Party’s national secretariat in Abuja and holding stakeholders’ meetings. You’re calling him an impostor while he’s the landlord at the moment?

As far as that’s concerned, I think the media should actually be commending organised labour and Labour Party members for their restraint. Do you know how easy it would be to enforce that Supreme Court judgment ourselves? But we haven’t because we respect the rule of law. Why should we take matters into our own hands when law enforcement agencies exist? Of course, sometimes, when these agencies fail to act, people begin to justify taking action on their own. But even if that happens, nobody will blame us, they will say we were patient. That’s the reality we are facing. We are showing patience now because we believe in the legal process. But we also don’t want to believe we live in a country where the Supreme Court cannot enforce its own judgment. If that’s the case, it would be a sad reflection of our nation. For now, we remain patient. But once we decide on our next steps, our actions will be justified in the eyes of Nigerians and the world.