Wednesday June 11, 2025|
The internal crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) has taken a new turn as the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, has pointed fingers at its former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, accusing them of orchestrating the current leadership tussle, PlatinumPost reports.
In a surprising twist, the LP absolved the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of any involvement in the crisis. This directly contradicts earlier assumptions that external political forces might be behind the instability within the party.
According to Abure, the party remained stable until Obi and Otti allegedly set up a caretaker committee in Abia State, despite the fact that the current leadership’s tenure was still active. He argued that their actions undermined the party’s existing structure and sowed the seeds of division.
Obi in an interview on national television on Monday, blamed the crisis in the LP on the Federal Government, whom he accused of using infiltrators to destabilise the party.
“This is what you get, always, right? This is what you always get in Nigeria, because we now live in a country of propaganda and lies, and they manufacture it.
“The problem we have in Labour Party is a problem instigated and sustained by the government of today.
“I don’t need to tell you when you have a party chairman who calls a state governor a dwarf and dwarf thinking. Forget about me, so it’s not weak.
“Okay, I’m weak, but it’s not weak. Is every other person there weak? So we’re not sincere with ourselves.
“You speak the truth and they call you names. And we now live in a country of propaganda and lies. They are trying to put problems everywhere, they want to even put problems in families”, he said in a response to a direct question on the cause of the crisis in the LP.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Secretary of the Abure faction, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, downed what he said was Obi’s penchant for “misinformation” on the state of affairs in the LP by not telling the truth.
The camp challenged Obi to provide proof of how the federal government or the APC was responsible for the crisis.
It stated: “It is therefore pertinent to put on record that the problem with the Labour Party was not created by the ruling party, (APC), rather the problem in the Labour Party was created and sustained by Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, who is presently serving suspension for anti-party activities.
“We dare Obi to produce any tangible or intangible evidence which suggests remotely or otherwise that the Abure leadership of the Labour Party is in bed with the APC-led government.
“Nobody is infallible and it behooves on anyone who makes mistakes to be bold enough to own it. When good leaders fail, they should own up to their responsibilities. Obi failed in providing leadership for the party. He should own up to his mistakes. It is therefore shameful for Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti to continue to accuse the government of infiltrating the Labour Party and by so doing demarketing the party.”
