Labour Party crisis: How di kasala starts as Alex Otti and Julius Abure are not there for each other

The Labour Party was not one of the political parties to be reckoned with in Nigeria until a few months before the 2023 general elections, when former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi joined the party.

With Obi, the party received over six million votes in the presidential elections, nominated numerous senators and representatives for the House of Representatives and even won a governor’s seat for the first time in history.

But since the elections, the LP has been in a difficult position as it struggles to cope with its new popularity in Nigeria.

The recent dispute between LP National Chairman Julius Abure and the party’s sole governor Alex Otti of Abia State, after Otti offered to host a meeting of the Labour Party National Executive Committee on August 31 to discuss the party’s leadership crisis.

Oga Otti told Tori Pipo that the party needed new leadership and he was ready to remove Abure’s chairmanship and appoint a new interim chairman for the party.

Abure responded to this call with a press conference in which he warned Alex Otti to concentrate on the government of Abia State and not to muzzle the leadership of the Labour Party.

“Even if the tenure of the National Working Committee does not expire, it is not the responsibility of Dr. Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia State to convene a meeting of the NEC to set up an interim committee,” Abure said.

He even threatened, saying: “The party will not hesitate to discipline party members, no matter how high-ranking they are, if they are unwilling to follow the party’s constitution.”

Abure told Otti that the LP was not a party where any man, woman or leader was in control anyway and respect must be given to the party that gave her power after failing with the PDP and APC.

Oga Alex Otti never responded to this outburst from Abure and BBC Pidgin did not send a request for comment.

The battle for the leadership of the Labour Party after the 2023 elections will begin when one of the party’s members, Lamidi Apapa, declares the office of president as national chairman as they say Abure’s term will not end.

A court case later ensued and after some legal wrangling, Abure was declared the official chairman by the Court of Appeal in March this year.

But some popular politicians who joined the party during the election are already angry with Abure’s leadership style and are calling for his resignation.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which follows the founders of the Labour Party, also did not call on Abure to resign. NLC members even protested outside the Labour Party headquarters in Abuja and demanded Abure’s resignation.

Instead of resigning, Abure and his executive organs are organising a national congress for Nnewi in Anambra State to elect him as national chairman in his second term.

Neither Peter Obi nor Alex Otti, the two LP senators nor Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the party’s vice-presidential candidate, attended the convention. Otti, however, sent his deputy governor to represent him.

Since the party conference, the Labour Party’s leadership crisis has not abated; in fact, it has worsened.

We then said that they had chosen the Labour Party and that some of the popular candidates for the party were not enthusiastic.

One of them is Francis Onyewuchi, who represents the Imo East Senatorial District for the National Assembly and is switching from the LP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Just to give you one reason why the Labour leadership won’t upset me.

Similarly, Peter Obi’s former president, Kenneth Okonkwo, also said they would no longer speak for Obi due to allegations made by the presidential candidate saying he was not strong enough to take a clear position on the issue, while they continue to run for the Labour Party.

Okonkwo, however, did not come to power from the party.

Labour Party media director Tanko Yunusa told BBC News Pidgin on Wednesday that the National Executive Committee headed by Governor Alex Otti had called for Abia State to hold its election on August 31.

Yunusa Tok says: “The meeting will be a good opportunity for all parties involved to come together and settle their affairs internally.”

“When there are two sides of who is right and who is wrong, someone should take the initiative and make a decision to solve the problem … and that is exactly what Governor Alex Otti will do,” he said.

Oga Yunusa rejected the idea, saying Peter Obi was weak because he did not take a clear position on the Labour Party’s election.

“Peter Obi is a very thorough thinker and likes to study situations very carefully before making a decision. And what leaders do so that you don’t do something that will come back to haunt you in the future,” he said.