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By Lawrence Agbo
Julius Abure, the factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, has dismissed allegations that he is working to undermine the party in favour of the All Progressives Congress, insisting that his actions have consistently demonstrated his commitment to the party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Abure said it was illogical to accuse him of acting as a spoiler for the APC when he was instrumental in backing Obi’s emergence as the Labour Party’s presidential candidate.
According to him, the party leadership under his watch unanimously endorsed Obi as its sole presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Somebody who is playing the role of a spoiler for the APC would not appoint Peter Obi as the sole presidential candidate. At our convention, we agreed that Peter Obi should be the sole presidential candidate for the 2027 general election,” he said.
Abure maintained that those accusing him of sabotaging the Labour Party would eventually be exposed when political campaigns begin.
He also rejected claims that the APC was responsible for the crisis rocking the Labour Party, instead blaming Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti for creating what he described as an illegal parallel leadership structure.
“I want to say clearly that it wasn’t the APC that caused the problem in the Labour Party. The crisis was created by Alex Otti and Peter Obi when they went to Umuahia to create a parallel National Working Committee,” he stated.
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According to Abure, the Labour Party had only minor internal disagreements before the emergence of the rival leadership, stressing that such differences could have been resolved internally.
“There is no political party in Nigeria that does not have disagreements. Those were internal matters that we could have resolved among ourselves. It was only after Peter Obi and Alex Otti went to Umuahia to create a parallel National Working Committee that the crisis escalated,” he said.
Defending his leadership, Abure said he devoted his personal resources and time to building the Labour Party into a nationally recognised political force.
“I promoted the party, spent my money, spent my time and energy. I gave people free tickets and searched for credible Nigerians to contest elections on the platform of the Labour Party. It was under my leadership that the party rose from nothing to something,” he said.
He further alleged that after benefiting from the party’s platform, some elected officials turned against the leadership that helped them emerge.
“As soon as we elevated the party, some people who came to contest under the platform suddenly felt we were no longer qualified to remain members of the National Working Committee. They gathered in Umuahia and illegally created another leadership,” Abure added.
He insisted that he and his supporters remain the victims of the leadership crisis and called for the facts surrounding the dispute to be properly presented to Nigerians.
