• Says LP lawmakers yet to fund party since assumption of office

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, has frowned upon the instigation of parallel structures by some party leaders, warning that such anti-party activities must surely attract grave consequences.

The national chairman also revealed that elected members of the Labour Party have not lived up to their financial obligations to the party since assuming office nearly two years ago.

Abure, while speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the Lagos State chapter of the party, also appealed to members of the Obidient family to work towards owning the party by registering with it and becoming qualified for the upcoming congresses in June and July 2025.

“We are willing and ready to absorb all the Obidients into the Labour Party. All you need to do is to go to your ward as an Obidient and register. The party has only one structure; all other ones are counterfeit.

“A party cannot have two conflicting structures; a party can only have one structure, and I advise, if you do not want to be left out of the scheme of things, find your way into the main structure.

“Those who are doing parallel structures, candidate structures, will lose out at the end of the day,” he stated.

On the relationship between the Labour Party elected members and the party, Abure said, “It is a fact that they don’t respect the party; it is a fact that they don’t make contributions to the party.

“As I speak with you today, we have not received one kobo at the national level from those we elected to the National Assembly.

“The responsibility of running this party is still with the leadership of the party. As of today, we have 6 senators, about 30 Reps members, and numerous House of Assembly members, but it will shock you to know that none of these lawmakers have contributed a dime to the party since their election in 2023.

“Let them go and ask other parties; it is those elected under their platform that fund the party.

“Today, most of them want to have control over their local government and for us to hand over their constituencies to them, yet they are not ready to work or partner with the party. Is it fair?” he queried.

The town hall meeting, which witnessed the defection of top political personalities in the state into the Labour Party, was also attended by party stakeholders, including national and state lawmakers, ward, local government, and state executives, and some members of the National Working Committee.