Abure removed as Labour Party chairman after expiration of tenure — Baba-Ahmed
The vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in last year’s election, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said the national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, was not removed by any governor but by the constitution of the party after the expiration of his tenure.
Baba-Ahmed, who spoke during the inaugural meeting of the National Caretaker Committee yesterday in Abuja, called on the Abure-led National Working Committee to sheath their swords and join hands with the Caretaker Committee to rebuild the party.
He said: “No governor unseated Abure. The constitution unseated him because his (Abure) tenure had elapsed. As of today, Abure is our good friend and a loyal member. We want him back in the fold. We have a role for him to play. Likewise, all members of the former NEC and NWC. They are welcome to come and join us and continue to build the Labour Party.”
“We didn’t have a crisis. We managed a transition that was a bit bumpy and that was it. I tell you, no other political party of our size could do that in the time and manner that we did”, he said.
He further stressed, “We are a political party that went all the way to the Supreme Court claiming our 10 million votes. They were only able to give us 6 million votes. So we are a force to contend with in Africa. What we’ve done has never been done before. When PDP came, they had the military. We had nothing.
The Chairman of the Labour Party National Caretaker Committee, Senator Nenadi Usman, assured of the committee’s determination to rescue the party from the current challenges and restore and rebuild it as a veritable alternative platform for Nigerians.
She pledged the readiness of the caretaker committee to lead the party to the path of reconciliation within the short period of its assignment.
Usman called for sacrifice from members of the caretaker committee, urging them to carry out their assignment with integrity in the interest of the party and the nation at large.
Her words: “My brothers and sisters, we are on a rescue mission, not just for the Labour Party, but I tell you for our dear nation, Nigeria. The interest this committee has generated extends beyond party lines. The number of telephone calls I have received not just from Labour Party members but people from other political parties who told me that if we get this thing right, we will walk together. So we have a huge task.
“Our party, by the grace of Almighty God, will become a platform for all disenfranchised and unhappy Nigerians. For people who are not happy with the way things are going, we are going to be the platform for them by the grace of God. Therefore, we must view this significant national assignment.”
Deputy governor of Abia state, Ikechukwu Emetu, who represented the governor, Alex Otti, charged the committee members to work for the growth of the Labour Party and shun acts that can be detrimental to the interest of the party.
The secretary of the committee, Senator Darlington Nwokocha, said the committee would ensure that it produced elected wards, local government areas, states, and national officers for the party.
“We have started already; it is something we are working hard to achieve. The organs of the party at all levels will come on board soon, depending on the elasticity of what we are doing.
“But we want to do a good job; we will do the proper sensitization, advocacy, consultation, consensus building, and so many other legitimate things from the grassroots to the top, to make sure that the proper people are being put in place of leadership, elected from the ward to local government, to states, and to the national convention,” he said.
