Fresh crisis in LP as ward executives suspend Abure over alleged anti-party activities  

The Don’t Have Such Powers, Party Insists

Labour Party (LP) executives in Ward 3 Arue-Uromi, in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, have suspended the National Chairman of the Party, Julius Abure, over alleged high-handedness and anti-party activities.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, debunked the development, describing it as fake news.  But the decision by the ward executives got the blessing of the State Executive Committee of the party, who ratified it after the ward wrote a formal letter to them.

At a press conference in Benin City, the Edo State capital last Friday night, where state, local council leaders and other members of the party were present, the chairman of LP in Esan North East Local Council, Patrick Onogbenin, disclosed that he had on May 14, this year, received a letter from the Ward 3 chairman, Thompson Ehiguese, detailing Abure’s membership suspension from Arue Ward 3.

According to Onogbenin, he had subsequently deliberated on the issues raised with other members of the party’s executive in the local council, and upon conclusion that the reasons for the suspension were weighty enough, wrote to the state executive for ratification of the suspension.

The state chairman of the party, Kelly Ogbaloi, who received the two letters and read them out, said considering the contents of the letters and reasons given for the suspension, the state executive had no choice but to ratify it.

“The state executive council is extremely reluctant to ordinarily adopt this kind of situation but I must tell you that tonight we are very constrained and have no options whatsoever at our disposal to refuse this presentation.

“This is more so when it is indeed coming from the very ward where Julius Abure originates. We therefore find no iota of evidence that has the capacity to prohibit us from agreeing to ratify the suspension

“On behalf of the state executive committee, we have the suspension ratified. Please take notice that you have been suspended from the membership of Ward 3, Arue, Uromi, Esan North-East Local Council, Edo State.

“This decision was reached after a rigorous deliberation by members of the ward in consideration of your high-handedness, anti-party activities in the administration of the party and other myriads of allegations of fraud levelled against you, which are currently under investigation.”

In a swift reaction, the national publicity secretary of the party, Obiora, said the media were disseminating fake news, insisting that Abure could not be suspended by the ward executives.

He said: “Thompson Ehiguese, the chairman of the Ward, has also in a viral video debunked the purported suspension insisting that the Ward leadership is loyal to the chairman and also very much aware that it lacks the powers under the constitution of the party to either remove or suspend a national chairman.

“In the Labour Party’s constitution, Article 17 subsection 1 (2019) is emphatic that only the National Convention convened solely for the purpose of the removal or suspension of the National Chairman with two third majority can suspend or remove him. The ward, LG or even the state has no powers under the constitution to suspend the national chairman.

“The Court of Appeal, Benin Division, on August 14, 2023, under the Presiding Justice Theresa Ngolika Orji-Abadua, in a case brought before it by Lucky Shaibu and others against Julius Abure and others corroborated the judgment of the lower court in their ruling that the national chairman of the Labour Party cannot be suspended or removed by the Ward executive.

“The leadership of the party is however investigating the source of the purported letter of suspension and will summarily act in accordance with the party rules in disciplining any officer of the party found guilty of contravening the rules of the party.”