From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Farouk Umar, has described the suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, over alleged forgery and anti-party activities, as illegal.
The Executive Council members in Ward 3, Arue in Esan North East Local Government Area (O4), Edo State, at a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, claimed that Abure connived with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to truncate the chances of the party in the February 25 presidential polls.
An Exco member, Martin Osigbemhe, 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.”
But, the Party’s Scribe, in a swift reaction, said the men claiming to be the ward executives should be regarded as impostors.
Umar contended that they lacked the powers to suspend Abure, explaining that it is only the National Convention that can suspend the national chairman.
He said: “The attention of the Leadership of the Labour Party was called to the Press Conference held today Friday, 31st March 2023 by some unknown faces assembled in one room in Abuja wherein they pronounced a suspension on our National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.
“They also made some spurious allegations against him which is untrue and concocted by the sponsors of the Press Conference. We however deemed it fit to make some responses.
“The Young men we saw on that visuals are apparently not anybody from Labour Party in Edo state as claimed.
“The executives of the party in the state, Local Government and my 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 some Abuja slums and paid to read a prepared speech given to them.
“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. 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.
“We think that the sudden suspension was an after thought 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 in time who will be thinking of such 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 in time. It is on record that for the first time in the history of the party, the Abure led leadership has succeeded to change 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 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.
“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 been 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.”