The Labour Party’s state chairs in the nation’s North Central geopolitical zone have pledged to support Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman, to the fullest extent possible despite the many political obstacles he is now dealing with.
The LP chairmen also denounced the recent acts of Abia State Governor Alex Otti and the party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, accusing them of attempting to sow disarray within the party for their own gain.
Speaking to journalists in Lafia, the state capital, on Wednesday, Alexander Ombugu, the Nasarawa State Chairman of the Labour Party, revealed this information on behalf of the North Central Chairmen.
According to him, Abure was lawfully elected during the March 2024 Nnewi national convention of the party, and hence will continue to enjoy the full support of the North Central chairmen till the expiration of his tenure.
He further revealed that the forum of LP Chairmen in the zone, including Abuja, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Plateau statses had recently payed a solidarity visit to Abure in Abuja to assure him of their continuing support notwithstanding his travails.
In addition to reiterating that the Labour Party does not currently have any factions as rumored, Ombugu gave the party’s National Working Committee the assurance that the North Central Chairmen would support the party during both prosperous and difficult times.
“There are no factions within the Labour Party,” he stated. Some individuals claim that there is a faction within the party, which surprises me. With an elected National Chairman and other executives holding their positions, how can there be a faction?
“Our National Chairman is Julius Abure and he is the only person that we know. Any other person parading himself or herself as the national chairman should be seen as a joker by Nigerians.”
Ombugu further accused the 2023 Presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti of trying to cause disunity among stakeholders of the party, which, if not properly addressed, could affect the chances of the party during the 2027 general election.
He noted that the North Central is the heartbeat of the Labour Party, explaining that the support base of the party was why Peter Obi got massive votes in the zone during the 2023 presidential election.
He, therefore urged Peter Obi and Alex Otti to as a matter of urgency, align themselves with the leadership of the party to enable them discuss their challenges, if any, with the national chairman and the National Working Committee of the party, with a view to addressing the issues.
“You see that we won the presidential election with a landslide here in Nasarawa State. Even Peter Obi benefited from our efforts.
“As of the time we finished our convention at Nnewi, Peter Obi was cooperating very well with us, but since Governor Alex Otti started creating confusion in the party, Obi stopped giving us the needed cooperation. Since then, he has not been working with us as expected.
But as a party that values and cherishes its members, we are pushing them to make positive changes. The Labour Party is an advocate of unity of purpose. Everyone matters at the party. We don’t treat people differently. Therefore, we would be pleased if they approached the party’s leadership to voice their grievances or difficulties so that they could be resolved,” Ombugu continued.
In order to guarantee the party’s victory in the general elections of 2027, the Nasarawa State LP Chairman also took advantage of the occasion to urge all disgruntled party members, whether they be at the national, state, local, or ward levels, to set aside their disagreements and resolve all matters amicably.
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