The factional national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Callistus Okafor, has declared the stakeholders meeting of the party to be convened by Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, as “illegal”.
News About Nigeria reports that the meeting is billed to be held on Wednesday.
The meeting has been rejected by both Julius Abure and Okafor, factional chairmen of the party.
Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, are expected to attend the meeting.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Okafor said some unnamed people are using the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to validate their selfish interests.
The factional chairman said he is not aware that the electoral body gave anybody permission to hold any meeting or set up a caretaker committee.
“Please, I want to warn against these erroneous words people are using against the personality of the INEC chairman,” he said.
“According to the constitution of LP and the consent judgement, I won’t allow any man to use this party for their selfish interest, no, not under my watch.
“People should stop using the name of INEC. I also want to call INEC not to give anyone the opportunity to drop its name.
“I have seen how the INEC chairman has been handling the matter in one or two months; he can’t give a letter to anybody to go and conduct any meeting or set up any caretaker committee.”
On August 31, Okafor accused Obi and Otti of attempting to hijack the party for personal gain.
Okafor said that Abure’s tenure ended on June 27, 2024, and it’s criminal deception for him to claim chairmanship.
