Julius Abure (National Chairman of Labour Party (LP) on Wednesday, secured another term of four years in office, which could see him prosecuting the next round of presidential elections, after the party put up a stellar performance, during the 2023 elections with Peter Obi as its presidential candidate.
Abure’s victory, which came via a unanimous affirmation of delegates, was announced by Ikechukwu Emetu, Deputy Governor of Abia State during the party’s national convention that held on Wednesday in Nnewi, Anambra State, days after the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), invaded the party secretariat in Abuja, demanding his resignation.
The NLC and its President, Joe Ajaero, who stormed the LP headquarters on March 20, while demanding for his resignation called for the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive national convention for the party.
The move was however assailed by both the faction of the party, led by Lamidi Apapa and that of Abure, who particularly faulted the picking of the LP on the ground that the labour union did not have controlling powers on the party and the leadership was not answerable to it
However, Ayuba Wabba, Ajaero’s predecessor, told his host while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on Thursday that the party was formed as a platform for members of the union to exercise and defend their rights, adding: “First and foremost, the Labour Party was formed by the NLC, in the realisation of a clear objective in the Constitution of the NLC.
“Under Article 3 and Item 1, the major objective of the NLC is to promote, defend and advance the economic, political, and social rights and well-being of Nigerian workers and pensioners. We own the Labour Party; it was formed under the leadership of Pascal Bafyau, as Party for Social Democracy. Under Adams, organs decided to change the name to the Labour Party, and the first chairman was S.O.Z Ejiofor who later handed over to Dan Nwanyanwu.
“So, the essence of forming the party is to make sure that workers, pensioners, farmers, can be able to have a platform to exercise their rights, which is enshrined in Section 40 of the Constitution. The party was formed by NLC, and registered by NLC. It’s like you built a house, you got a C-of-O, then you rented the apartment, so you must have an interest in how the property is managed.”