The Labour Party (LP) has been thrown into a new crisis after a former Deputy National Chairman (South), Callistus Okafor, declared himself the legitimate National Chairman of the party.
Okafor told journalists that the party’s suspended national chairman, Julius Abure, and interim national chairman, Lamidi Apapa, are unlawful occupants of the post.
He claimed to be the rightful National Chairman of the LP due to his position as Deputy National Chairman of the party during the tenure of the late national chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam.
According to him, Abure was Acting National Secretary when Abdulsalam died in 2020, and after Abdulsalam’s death, Abure declared himself National Chairman of the party without consulting the organization’s constitution.
“Both Abure and Apapa are all illegal occupants of the seat,” Okafor stated. Abure, as acting national secretary, can never be the party’s national chairman unless the party dissolves and a new convention is held.
“Because he is illegal, the papa who took over cannot preside over any meeting.”
While blaming the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for allowing the party’s crisis to fester for so long, Okafor bemoaned recent developments within the party and the potential impact they could have on the upcoming legal battle to overturn the results of the 2023 presidential election.
He urged the former Anambra governor to act quickly to fix the problem and avoid it from worsening.
“Peter did not handle my case very well,” Okafor stated. He was engaged with his campaigns and may have transferred the matter to inexperienced hands. He transferred that task to those who did not perform well.
“Whenever there is a problem, only a roundtable discussion will address it, and such discussions must not be accompanied by threats.
“So it is disheartening that this kind of thing (leadership crisis) will occur in the Labour Party, which has never seen the kind of light that it is seeing today.”
“What is happening now is the result of Obi, as a leader, delegating incompetent people to go and solve this problem.” Instead of addressing the issue, they were busy threatening and boasting about their abilities. Today, the party is paying a high price for it.
“Instead of focusing on Peter Obi’s case at the tribunal, they want him to come down and deal with the Abure issue?” No.
“However, if caution is not exercised, the Abure issue will have a negative impact on him (Obi), because Abure is not the party’s national chairman.” The party’s constitution states unequivocally that the acting national secretary cannot become Chairman in the absence of the Chairman.”
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