Purported Suspension Of Our National Chairman Handiwork Of Stalwarts Of Opposition Party –Labour Party
Adeyemi Adebanjo
THE fledging opposition Labour Party (LP) has described as the handiwork of stalwarts of an unnamed rival party yesterday, Friday 31st March 2023 suspension of its National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure by executive members of Ward 3, Arue in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Ward Chairman, Martins Osigbemhe, claimed that Abure connived with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to truncate the chances of the party in the 25 February presidential poll.
Osigbemhe added that Abure was suspended by the executive pending the determination of the numerous petitions and cases against him in courts.
He said: “We, the Labour Party Ward Executive Council in Ward 03-Arue, in Esan North East Local Government Area O4 of Edo State (12), do hereby suspend Barr. Abure Julius Odianosen indefinitely as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.”
But in a swift reaction, the LP National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim described Barrister Abure’s traducers as “unknown faces“. He insisted that the persons at the press conference were not known to the Party.
“The executives of the party in the state, local government and his ward are well known to the party. None of them were at the press conference. We make bold to say that they are people assembled and rented from Abuja slums and paid to read a prepared speech given to them by the sponsors of this illegality”.
Alhaji Ibrahim also clarified that only a National Convention of the Party has the authority to suspend a sitting chairman of the party. “Again, our Party Constitution is clear on who can suspend and who cannot suspend the National Chairman. They should go and read the Party Constitution which is very clear and unambiguous. It is only the National Convention that can suspend the National Chairman of the Labour Party. It also must be through such a convention called for the purpose of the suspension of the National Chairman”.
Alhaji Ibrahim further said that: “We think that the sudden suspension was an afterthought of some opposition parties purely to distract the leadership of the Labour Party at this time. There is no reasonable Party member at this point who will be thinking of such a thing when we are pursuing our presidential mandate in the court and all other mandates including the governorship, senate and House of Representatives that were brazenly stolen. who will be contemplating the suspension of any national party official at this point.
“It is on record that for the first time in the history of the Party, the Abure-led leadership has succeeded in changing the political narratives in the country. A Party from the blues competing with the top two political parties and in the process, winning eight senate and 34 House of Representatives seats as well as numerous House of Assembly seats. We also won a governorship seat, while we are in court to retrieve other mandates including the presidency“.
Alhaji Ibrahim opined that the action of purported Party members was undeserving of attention by the media, particularly as the perpetrators are impostors.
“This is certainly not a matter that should be given serious attention by the media. We ordinarily should be talking to our lawyers by now but the fact that you are dealing with faceless individuals who are obviously being sponsored. We are also calling on Nigerians to distance themselves from politicians who take pleasure in maligning political leaders, especially, politicians who are afraid of the rising profile of our National Chairman, Julius Abure”.
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