From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Less than eight weeks to the 2023 presidential elections, there is turmoil in the Labour Party over the alleged sidelining of campaign state coordinators by the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
The state coordinators are expected to coordinate the campaign in the various states and mobilise the electorate to vote for the LP Presidential standard-bearer, Mr Peter Obi.
However, there are discordant tunes emanating from the campaign council over the accusation that the PCC is running a “one-man show.”
Most of the state coordinators are said to be frustrated with the handling of the campaign as they are in the dark about what the campaign plan is.
One of the coordinators who spoke on condition of anonymity said the high spirit most of them had when they were inaugurated has been dampened.
According to him, the Obi, the party leadership and the Director-General of the campaign have sidelined the state coordinators in running the campaign.
“Since our inauguration, there has not been a meeting with the DG to know what the plan of the campaign is. Nobody is saying anything to PCC Coordinators. We don’t have answers to our members that keep calling us for mobilization and materials.
“Support groups are getting worn out day by day. Election is by the corner, the DG has not given us direction on our campaign,” he said.
When contacted the spokesman of LP PCC, Mr Tanko Yunusa in a telephone interview said there is no iota of truth in the accusation.
He noted that any state coordinator complaining is perhaps not getting close to the PCC to get information about the meetings going on.
Yunusa disclosed that he has been part of a series of meetings held between the PCC and state coordinators.
“The allegation is not true. The truth is that after the inauguration there were a series of meetings at the Directorate level. Maybe some of them complaining did not move close to know about the meetings. I attended several of such meetings with the then Director-General, Dr Doyin Okupe. Moving forward, such state coordinators will be properly informed to reach out to get information about meetings.