The Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party has made the decision to support Julius Abure as the National Chairman.
News About Nigeria reports that this was stated by the National Deputy Chairman of LP, Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Dr. Olorunfemi praised the faction for making a wise decision by recognising Abure as the National Chairman.
He noted that the Labour Party is awaiting the resolution of differences between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and stakeholders in the party.
The NLC is the parent body of the Labour Party.
He said the party is waiting for the NLC to resolve its differences with the chairman and other stakeholders.
Dr. Olorunfemi said the development is a positive step towards resolving the crisis within the Labour Party, adding that the recognition of Abure as National Chairman is a step in the right direction.
According to him, the Labour Party is working towards resolving its internal conflicts, adding that the party is hopeful that the NLC will help resolve the differences and strengthen the party.
“It (the Apapa/Abure reunion) is a welcome development and we are expecting NLC to also take the same path of wisdom.
“Now, Nigerians can now understand that all the allegations levied against our national chairman are politically motivated.
“I must tell you that some of the elements fighting him (Abure) from the NLC are doing so on the strength of those same allegations.
“It is now over and the need for a united front is now,” Olorunfemi, the Ondo State LP governorship candidate in the forthcoming gubernatorial poll, said.
On the transition committee set up by the NLC, the LP chieftain described it as an exercise in futility.
Olorunfemi, a former labour union leader, said, “The union is guided by its constitution and there is no provision in the LP constitution that grants NLC any power to do what it is doing.”
“Concerning the national convention, NLC, just like TUC, has only three delegates out of over 200.
“Everything before and during the convention was done in line with the party’s ‘constitution and the Electoral Act.
“It will be good for NLC too to follow the path of honour and nominate its statutory representative to join the NWC,” he said
NAN recalls that the LP was engulfed in a leadership crisis shortly after the 2023 general elections, leading to the factionalisation of the party along with the Apapa-led National Working Committee (NWC) and the incumbent Abure-led NWC.
A court later restrained Abure and three others from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
Abure, supported by the NLC, fought fiercely to reclaim his seat and was later affirmed as the party Chairman.
However, Abure later fell out of favour with the NLC, following a contentious national convention held in Anambra, that returned him and all loyal members of his faction to office on March 27.
