Stakeholders of the Labour Party under the aegis of Labour Party Partrotic Members Congress (LPPC), made up of elected party men/women in the states government, legislators at the states and national assemblies, Obidient family of support groups and party members from across the 36 states of Nigeria and Abuja have called out the party’s Central Working Committee, CWC led by Mr. Julius Aburi to step down from their offices and set up a Caretaker Committee to organise a free and fair Congresses in all the stratas of the party to allow for new pragmatic and forward looking leadership to emerge.
The stakeholders who made the call at an interactive meeting held recently in Abuja expressed disappointment at the Julius Aburi led Central Working Committee for their inability to call for a review meeting after 2023 general elections and legal tussles at the election Tribunal in order to restrategize on the way forward but in stead, are seating tight in office and preventing new ideas and members to come in.
The National Coordinator of Labour Party Patriotic Movement Congress (LPPMC) Dr. Okundaye in an address at the interactive meeting meeting, noted that the inability of the Labour Party leadership to put its house together despite the huge followership from across the country is what has caused the poor outing in the recently concluded Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states off circle governorship elections which sadly may be the case in the Edo and Ondo states up coming election if nothing drastic is done to reverse the downward trend in the party.
Dr. Kingsley Okundaye called on the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC leadership as critical stakeholders of the party to rise up to the occasion to save it from drifting into avoidable failure.
He appealled to to the party’s Central Working Committee not allow their ego to destroy the party which has received wide acceptability from especially the youth who form the greater population of the country and also pleaded with all aggrieved party members who have taken the party to court to withdraw them to allow real family discussion and reconciliation to take place.
The meeting focused on crucial issues within the Labour Party aimed at safeguarding the future of the party by fostering peace, reconciliation and progress.
Various stakeholder groups and individual party members spoke to the issues bedeviling the party with most pointing to its leadership deficiency and resolved thus:
1. Unity of the Party: It was unanimously agreed that the party must unite and strengthen its membership base. There is an immediate need for the Party to embark on a full-scale membership drive and reconcile any existing divisions within the party. A call for a truce between the warring NWC members was made, and the establishment of an Interim National Caretaker Committee (INCC) was proposed to conduct Edo and Ondo States’ Guber Primaries and review the party constitution.
2. Gratitude to the Obi-dient Family: The leadership of LP should embark on a “Thank You Tour” across the nation to show gratitude to the Obi-dient family for their support and electoral impact in the last elections. The party leadership and stakeholders should enhance and consolidate on the Obi-dient organizations that are fully pro-LP.
3. Rumored Merger and Dire Concerns: The LP stakeholders expressed concerns about the rumored merger and emphasized that the LP does not need any merger to win elections in Nigeria. It was agreed that any potential merger must be negotiated from a position of strength and must expressly favor His Excellency Peter Obi come 2027.
4. Conduct of Elected Members and Rumors of Defection: Elected members were urged to desist from undemocratic defections and uphold the exemplary virtue of quality leadership. It was emphasized that the existing “misunderstanding or disunity” in the NWC should not serve as an excuse for defection, and elected leaders should show faith and gratitude to the party by unifying, strengthening, and repositioning it.
5. Edo and Ondo States’ Guber Elections: The LP stakeholders emphasized the importance of securing victory in the Edo and Ondo States’ Guber Elections. It was agreed that the leadership of the party in both states must quell any disunity and intra-party squabbles to ensure success in the elections. It also appealled to the party leadership to consider a downward review of the N30 million expression of interest fee for governorship as too outrageous and likely to discourage popular aspirants from emerging.
In conclusion, the LPPMC pledged unalloyed support to the survival and unity of LP and called on all the Obi-dient family and Nigerians at large to defend and espouse democratic institutions.
