Labour Party axes Abure, appoints Nennadi as caretaker chairman

Labour Party (LP) stakeholders on Wednesday appointed Senator Esther Nenadi Usman as the Chairman of its Caretaker Committee.

Immediate-past Senate Minority Deputy Leader, Senator Darlington Nwokocha, from Abia Central, was appointed as the Secretary of the committee.

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Usman’s appointment was announced during the stakeholders’ meeting that got the blessings of the majority of stakeholders, comprising elected representatives and the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi and his running mate Baba Datti Ahmed.

The new leadership is saddled with rescuing the party from its current leadership crisis.

Senator Usman, a former Minister of Finance and representative of Kaduna South senatorial district from 2011 to 2015, will lead the 29-member committee tasked with reorganising the party and setting it on a path to electoral success.

The committee was given 90 days to complete its assignment, which included organising a convention to elect new leadership from the ward to the national stage.

Following the protracted crises that have been rocking the party for some time now, the governor of Abia State, Alex Oti, being the party’s only elected governor, convened the stakeholder meeting to save the party from an impending disaster.

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Otti only heeded a recent call by the former treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, for leaders of the party especially elected members who are statutory delegates, to wake up and save the party from an impending disaster.

According to her, the tenure of Abure as National Chairman of the party elapsed since June 2024, therefore, any action by him and other members of the National Working Committee will be null and void forthwith.

“The tenure expired in June 2023, but was extended by one year in Asaba by the NEC.”

She spoke against the backdrop of a reply by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to an application for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the monitored report of the LP Convention in Nenewi, Anambra State for which the commission said it did not monitor and hence cannot report on it.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had disowned the Labour Party’s National Convention held in Nnewi Anambra almost immediately.

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party swiftly rejected Otti’s plan to dissolve the party’s national, state, local government, and ward executives, citing alleged expired tenures.

In a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting, the NWC rejected Otti’s move.

It stated that there is no vacuum in the party’s leadership and that the tenure of the executives was to last till June 2024. The party’s national convention was held on March 27, 2024, in Anambra State, where new executives were elected.

The NWC accused Governor Otti of attempting to disrupt the party’s smooth operation and urged members to respect the party’s constitution and leadership.

A standing disciplinary committee was immediately constituted to address any further infractions.

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The party also noted that INEC had not officially communicated any objections to the convention or the tenure of the executives.

The NWC emphasised that the Labour Party is a party for the people, not controlled by one person, and its ideology and principles must be maintained.

However, despite the warning, Otti announced the stakeholders’ meeting, citing many anomalies from the tenure of NWC members, which the proponents of the stakeholders’ meeting have said expired due to the allegations of corruption.