Anambra guber: We’ve not endorsed any candidate – Labour Party

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The national leadership of the Labour Party, on Wednesday, said it was yet to endorse another candidate for the Anambra State gubernatorial elections slated for November for November 6.

The party advised the public to disregard what it described as “miscreants and political scavengers who are trying to hijack the party and allocate positions to themselves with a view to manipulating innocent and unsuspecting political office aspirants who genuinely want to contest elections through its platform”.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the Labour party’s leadership speaking through its Acting Secretary General, Joseph Ndirang, accused the party’s National Secretary, Julius Abure of parading himself as the National Chairman and extorting colossal sum of money from unsuspecting groups in Anambra State in the guise of filing in a candidate for the labour party.

The party insisted that its only recognized and legitimately installed National Chairman was Maria Lebeke.
Ndirang confirmed that the only candidate that had approached the leadership and owners of the party for support was Chief Valentine Ezigbo of PDP, adding that talks were still ongoing between both parties to reach a consensus.

The Act. Gen Sec recalled that the Federal High Court in Abuja had in July, dismissed the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC), of the Labour Party after a case was filed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and others accusing Mr Abure of illegally emerging as the leader of the party. The trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, after listening to the NLC lawyer and other plaintiffs, made a ruling, ordering both parties to stay action on the dispute pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He said the Party’s Chairman, also wrote a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), requesting that Mr Abule be disregarded as Chairman.

Also recall that the Labour party’s candidate for the Anambra State gubernatorial elections Mr Obiora Agbasimal was kidnapped on September 18 on his way from Ezinifitte Nnewi South Local Government Area to Azhia in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state while campaigning leaving the party without a candidate.

“We have said it times without number that Juluis Abure is not the National Chairman. The National Chairman is Comrade Maria Lebeke.

“We only heard a grapevine report that Julius Abure and Co had gone to deceive the highly respected Oga-ndi-Oga Movement in Anambra State and collected colossal sums of money in the name of filing a candidate for the Labour Party.

“We don’t have issues with the candidate, we only sympathise with him that he has been deceived and kept open for unnecessary litigations, in the event of him winning the election because he did not come to the owners of the party to indicate his interest to use their platform into the Anambra governorship race. Ndirang said.