It’s time to allow peace reign, Otti tells Abure
Tension has escalated within the Labour Party (LP), as loyalists of embattled National Chairman, Julius Abure, brace for what an “imminent invasion” of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
The development follows the Supreme Court ruling of April 4, which sacked the Abure-led executive committee. Meanwhile, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has told the Abure faction to sheathe their sword and embrace peace.
In a statement, yesterday, the former National Secretary of LP, Umar Ibrahim, alleged that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in collaboration with the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee and the National Transition Committee, was planning an illegal and violent takeover of the party’s headquarters.
“The invasion, allegedly bankrolled by the Abia government and a prominent party figure, is scheduled to begin Monday, April 7,” Ibrahim warned. “The goal is to break into the offices, seize sensitive documents and vandalise party property.”
The Abure camp further accused the NLC of mobilising hired thugs and miscreants to carry out the operation, a move that, they said, threatens the peace of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and violates the Labour Union’s non-partisan mandate.
The camp interpreted the Supreme Court judgment to mean that internal party matters must be resolved within, insisting that the judgment did not authorise any change in leadership.
Calling on security agencies to act swiftly, the Abure camp urged the police and other law enforcement bodies to prevent any breach of peace and arrest those involved in any attempted takeover.
THE Supreme Court, on Friday, sacked Abure as the LP National Chairman, affirming Usman as the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party. Otti spoke at the weekend following the “misleading interpretations being given to the Supreme Court judgment that sacked Abure’s led faction of the LP.”
The LP governor, who spoke while inaugurating the new leadership of Abia Arise Organisation, his political structure ahead of 2027, said: “The party (LP) is bigger and more important than any of us put together. The triumph of evil over good is for a moment. So, we thank God for yesterday. We somehow believed that justice would be done to LP.
“I was watching and saw some people making some claims about them not being removed by the Supreme Court. We can ignore them, but I will not ignore them. I appeal to them to give peace a chance, except, if what they wanted in the first place is to destroy the party, and if they want to destroy the party, they will destroy themselves and the party will become even stronger.”
Governor Otti inaugurated the Abia Arise State Executive, as well as zonal and local government coordinators, with Nkem Okoro as State Chairman, Mrs Sophia Ikpeama as Vice Chairman and Dr Sylvester Ibeneme as Secretary, among other officials. He congratulated them on being found worthy to serve as leaders of Abia Arise, his administration’s grassroots support structure.