Obi, Otti write INEC over caretaker committee 

Kingibe knocks Abure, backs 29-man panel

Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the last general election, Peter Obi, and Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to notify the umpire of the setting up of a 29-man caretaker committee to organise the party’s congresses and national convention within 180 days.

The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, yesterday, endorsed the 29-member caretaker committee established by Obi, Otti and party stakeholders last week, in Umuahia.

In the letter signed by Obi and Governor Otti on September 6 and obtained by The Guardian, yesterday, the duo told the commission that the caretaker committee followed the de-recognition of the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by INEC effective June 2024.

Some leaders of the party, including Obi, Otti and some federal lawmakers elected on the platform of the party, met in Umuahia, Abia State, last week to appoint a 29-man caretaker committee to lead the party in the interim.

The letter, which contained the names of the committee members named Senator Esther Nenadi Usman as the Chairman and Senator Darlington Nwokocha as the Secretary.

It noted that the committee was given the mandate to organise congresses and the national convention within a period not exceeding 180 days to fill the vacuum created by the expiration of the tenure of the erstwhile leadership of the party at all levels.

In the letter, Obi and Otti, who convened the September 4 expanded stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, stated, “You would recall that LP had a leadership crisis in recent times culminating in the de-recognition of the Abure-led NWC by INEC effective June 2024. This is sequel to the settlement brokered by INEC on June 27, 2022.”

The letter said the settlement was founded on the consent court judgment by Justice Gabriel Kolawole on March 20, 2018.

“A major part of the settlement states that an all-inclusive national convention, preceded by ward, local council and state congresses shall be convened not later than one year after signing the terms of settlement,” the letter stated.

It added that because of the 2023 general elections, the implementation of the agreement was deferred by one year to 2024.

Obi and Otti stated in the letter, “By March 2024, the Abure-led NWC organised a convention at Nnewi without first organising ward, local government and state congresses. This fell short of the standards and the spirit of the settlement as stated above. In the light of all these, a leadership vacuum arose in the party. In like manner, the National Executive Committee (NEC) membership was depleted, leaving less than 10 members standing.

“Given the above scenario, the statutory executives of the party made up of the governor, deputy governor and legislators, in addition to all surviving members of the NEC, the leadership of organised labour, representatives of governorship candidates in the 2023 election and subsequent ones, presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2023 election and other party leaders, met in Umuahia, on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, and set up a caretaker committee.”

KINGIBE gave her endorsement at the launch of a four-day free medical outreach she facilitated for her constituents in Abuja.

The free medical outreach, organised in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), attracted many people seeking eye tests, free treatment and referrals for suspected cataract cases.

The senator, represented by her senior legislative aide, Dr Chris Omofoma, told newsmen that every LP member knew that the tenure of Abure and his NWC ended in June 2023.

While noting that Abure and his loyalists had yet to accept the reality, Kingibe explained that Otti and Obi, “whom Abure is opposing”, had requested an extension of his tenure by an extra year to help recover from the 2023 presidential election loss.

Abure, his National Secretary, Umar Farouk, and the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, were notably absent from the enlarged stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia.

The Abure-led NWC opposed the Usman-led caretaker committee, describing it as null and void.