The 36 State Chairmen of the Labour Party including FCT, have debunked speculations that they were plotting to suspend the party leader and Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi.
They described the speculation as the handiwork of detractors. The state chairmen said this during a solidarity visit to the LP National Chairman, Julious Abure, at the party’s National Headquarters in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Chairman, Council of State Chairmen of the party, Ceekay Igara, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, also said they were satisfied with the day to day running of party affairs by the Abure- led NWC.
Igara said, “We also want to use this opportunity to debunk the allegation that the Labour Party are planning to suspend our National Leader, Peter Obi.
“Like we said earlier, our party is under worst siege ever, including unleashing fierce propaganda against the party.
“The party has not at any time contemplated a suspension of our leader. He remains our leader and will continue to lead the party in our avowed determination to pull this nation out from the strangulation under this present government.
“We are also using this opportunity to beg our media friends to cease on going media trial against our party and its leaders. What you are witnessing now is orchestrated and will fizzle out very soon.
“We are also aware that some people are afraid of the fortunes of the party in Edo state governorship election.
“Our exploits in Edo state, generally referred as the headquarters of the Obidient Movement in Nigeria, has not ceased to discomfort them and they are going all the way to fan embers of discord within the party. We want to assure them that their plots will fail and the party will trudge on to massive victory.
Earlier, while stating the main reason for the visit, Igara said, “We are here to pay a solidarity visit to the entire members of the National Working Committee of our great party and particularly to our National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.
“We are here to reinforce our confidence on the Barrister Abure’s leadership of the Labour Party and his ability to provide good and transparent leadership.
“We are here also to use the opportunity to respond to some of the spurious and unfounded allegations that are being made generally on the leadership of the party especially the one that has to do with mismanagement of funds of the party and lack of transparency in the management of the affairs of the party.
“We are a critical part of the leadership of the Labour Party being members of the National Executive Committee.
“This present NWC is our baby and we have entrusted our collective trust on it having carefully selected it based on the members pedigree, integrity and administrative capacity to lead the rest of us.
“This leadership has displayed high level of transparency in the management of the party finances. The audit report as prepared by the external auditor is very clear about the finances of the party.
Our party funds are not missing
On the alleged misappropriation of N3.5bn party funds, Igara said, “Let me emphatically state here that our money is not missing. We didn’t generate N3.5b as claimed by the now suspended National Treasurer.
“We can confirm that the party only realized N1.3 million during the 2023 general election and another Seven Hundred Million naira donations which was used by the Presidential Campaign Council.
“ All these monies were lodged in the banks and were promptly receipted. The audit is also clear about the money generated during the off season elections and how it was managed.
“Her allegation that the National Chairman didn’t allow her perform her duties was also a huge lies. In all our financial dealings with the national headquarters, she has always being the officer that has attended to us. From the records, virtually all the cheques were signed by her and the National Chairman.
“ It is obvious she may have been influenced to lie against the National Chairman.
“You may be wondering why our National Leader and Presidential Candidate in the last general election, Peter Obi, seems to be silent on this matter.
“The truth is that our leader has mediated privately on this matter, he is also aware that the sustained attacks against Barrister Abure are sponsored and are politically motivated.
“Again, our leader knows the role the National Chairman played during the process of his joining the party, after he joined the party and even during the campaign; he is aware of the immense sacrifices made by the leadership of the party for the project to become a reality.
“ He is also aware that all the allegations are unfounded and spurious. That is why he chose to remain silent because he knows the truth.
“He also knows that the national chairman is honest and dedicated and he is also passionate about the growth and development of the party.
“His decision to involve an independent auditor is a welcome one and we believe that the outcome will finally exonerate Julius Abure and also expose the lies being peddled by the suspended Treasurer.
“ It is very clear that the sponsored crisis is the handwork of our political opponents that are afraid of the future of the party.
“They are probably nursing fears and are looking for every opportunity to derail the party and to ensure that it is unable to realize its set goals. Labour Party is a dynamite and the fear of the party is the beginning of wisdom for our opponents.”
The council of chairmen also took a swipe at activities of the what they described as a “group of urchins” who belong to a renegade party loyalists claiming to be party officials at the state level.
He said, “We do not know them; they are not our members. Seated here today in our national headquarters are the authentic state chairmen of the Labour Party recognized by the INEC.
“Those men were touts picked on the streets and baptized with titles as state chairmen by the dissident former members of the party. It is no longer news as to who they are working for and what their assignments are.
“Today, we have expressed our satisfaction with the way our party is run and we have passed a vote of confidence on Barrister Julius Abure and his executive.
“We thank them for being true patriots and we pray the posterity will be kind to them for all the sacrifices they are making to salvage this nation at huge price they are paying.” now.”
Credit: Vanguard News Nigeria