Julius Abure, factional chairman of the Labour Party (LP), has urged Nigerians to disregard former presidential candidate Peter Obi’s call to support African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the upcoming by-elections.
Gatekeepers News reports that on Thursday, Obi, a member of the ADC-led coalition, advised his supporters to vote for ADC, citing the absence of INEC-recognised LP candidates due to the party’s internal crisis.
INEC had on August 2 omitted LP candidates from its list, prompting a protest to its Abuja headquarters last week. The excluded candidates emerged from primaries conducted by Abure’s faction amid a leadership tussle.
In a statement, Abure described Obi’s directive as “misleading, mischievous, and delusional,” accusing him of creating and funding the crisis he now cites.
He alleged that Obi’s “desperation to control the soul of the party” had driven him haywire and labelled him an “Uber politician” affiliated with multiple parties.
Abure maintained that LP remains on the ballot and that its candidates are duly contesting, insisting the party has acted within the law to ensure participation in the polls. He further accused Obi of betraying the goodwill he received from LP leadership.
The statement reads, It is unfortunate that Obi has turned himself into an irony and a paradox in the Nigerian political space.”
“He is now reputed to have elevated subterfuge in the game of politics and has of late been crying wolf where there is none.”
“He has turned himself into an ‘Uber’ politician, not willing to take a position and stand by his decision.”
“He has now booked a place for himself in the Guinness Book of Records as a person affiliated with many political parties pari passu, all in his desperation to preside over Nigeria.”
“Nigerians should not forget in a hurry that it was Peter Obi who created the crisis in the Labour Party, which he is now citing as a reason why people should not vote for the party.”
“Peter Obi and Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, hosted the ill-fated and illegal expanded stakeholders meeting in Umuahia on September 4, 2024.”
“He has also co-funded the crisis all this while and went as far as leading a protest march to
INEC headquarters against his own party. His desperation to control the soul of the party has made him go haywire.”
“A man who received so much goodwill from the party leadership but turned around to repay them with evil.”
“This is why we have maintained that Peter Obi lacks the competence, character and capacity to actualise the vision of a new Nigeria.”
“What Obi does not know is that Labour Party is on the ballot and our candidates are contesting the election in spite of all his efforts to strangulate the Labour Party.”
“The party, unknown to him, has done everything within the law to ensure that our candidates participate in the bye-election and, of course, in all other future elections.”
“We are therefore encouraging our candidates, members and supporters across all the states where bye-elections are being held to be focused and ensure that we carry out our civic duties by returning the Labour Party and the candidates elected.”
