The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) appears to have worsened after the PL leadership announced that the party's presidential bid for the 2027 general elections is now open to participation by all qualified Nigerians.
Julius Abure, former National Chairman of the LP, announced this on Monday at the party's National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja.
A video clip showing him making the announcement was uploaded on TVC's Facebook page.
“We (the LP faction) have not removed the names of Alex Otti and Peter Obi (from the list of people competing for the party’s ballots). We have simply said that the party’s doors are open to others,” Abure said.
Mr Obi, the LP's presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, was earlier adopted as the party's candidate for the 2027 general election.
Like Obi, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, who won the 2023 election on the LP platform, has been tipped as the party's candidate for a second term bid.
Mr Abure was apparently responding to Mr Obi and Mr Otti for facilitating a meeting at which an interim committee of the party recently emerged.
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Why were automatic tickets withdrawn?
Mr Abure argued that the decision to stop issuing automatic fines to individuals was in line with sections 222 and 225 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
“The Labour Party Constitution is also clear on this point: we cannot deny access to people interested in standing for elected office.
“What we have done is open the window to accommodate more people,” he said, stressing that democracy is about “numbers.”
“The more, the better: the more people (candidates) we have, the better for the party and even for the candidates themselves, because if they emerge from a competitive process, it gives more confidence and shows that they are the best,” said Abure.
Connecting the dots
The action by Mr. Abure and his team was apparently a response to the expanded LP stakeholders/NEC meeting held on Wednesday at the Government House, Umuahia, Abia State.
Mr Obi and Mr Otti are believed to have facilitated the meeting.
Former Nigerian Finance Minister Nenadi Usman appeared at the meeting as chairman of the Labour Party's Caretaker Committee.
The emergence of the interim committee consequently ended the reign of Abure and others as party executives.
The 29-member committee was mandated to organize district, local and state government congresses as well as the party's national convention within 90 days.
Meanwhile, Abure has distanced himself from the meeting. Obiora Ifoh, spokesman for the Abure-led executives, said the outcome of the Umuahia meeting was “illegal”.
The U-turn of Abure
Prior to the current leadership crisis in the LP, Mr Abure had backed the previously announced automatic candidacy for Mr Obi.
During a June meeting of the LP’s National Working Committee (NWC), the then national chairman expressed satisfaction with Mr Obi’s leadership role in ensuring that the party returned to being a “formidable entity” capable of winning the next general election.
“We (LP) have said that we are focused on 2027. That is why we are the only party that has presented its candidate for the 2027 presidential election,” he had said, referring to Obi.
“We know where we are going and we have not allowed ourselves to be distracted. We will certainly reach our destination: to deliver a better nation to Nigerians,” Abure added at the meeting.