LP Crisis: We Made You – Abure Slams Abia Gov, Alex Otti

The controversial National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has responded to Abia State Governor Alex Otti by asserting that his leadership played a crucial role in Otti’s rise to his current position.

Naijaonpoint reports that Abure’s statements were made during an emergency meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee held at the Labour Party secretariat in Abuja.

His remarks were a direct reply to Otti’s earlier appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where the governor alleged that they had regained control of the party from Abure, whom he accused of ‘masturbating’ over claims of still being in charge.

Otti had said, “This is a democracy, and sometimes you must stand for something. I can’t say I wouldn’t leave the Labour Party; what if the party is non-existent tomorrow?

“The party that brought me to power is Labour. Okay. Today we have fought and retrieved the Labour Party. I will send you the Supreme Court judgment, and when you finish reading it, you will know that Abure is just masturbating.”

In a swift response on Friday, May 2, Abure said Otti is who he is today because of the Labour Party leadership.

He said, “It is only appropriate at this point to respond to him so he doesn’t think he is the only one who can speak. As mature leaders of this party who believe in the development of this country, we made them.

“Without sounding immodest, we made Governor Alex Otti. We supported him, made sacrifices, rejected bribes and offers, just so he could become the governor he is today. Yet today, he goes on national television to misinform the public about the Supreme Court judgment.

“My major concern was his foul language, saying he was laughing at us for holding on to the party leadership and ‘masturbating’ over it. Dwarfy and Lilliputian men were once considered men of great ideas. But Alex
Otti is not only dwarfy in appearance—he is dwarfy in knowledge.”

Abure stated that the Supreme Court’s decision explicitly indicated that issues regarding party leadership are internal matters governed by the party’s constitution.

He referred to Otti as a ‘jester’ and expressed his embarrassment at witnessing the governor align with other party dissidents in presenting the court ruling to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He said, “It is clear. When the Supreme Court says leadership is a domestic affair of the party, what does it mean? Even a layman knows that the party’s constitution is supreme. For him to go on national TV today, after parading himself like a cricket to INEC, is disgraceful.

“See how a whole governor reduced himself to carrying the Supreme Court CTC, thinking he could intimidate and harass INEC. But we know INEC is a civilised institution guided by law and procedure.

“I want to state clearly that Otti does not represent the values of our party. We told Nigerians in 2023 that the Labour Party would produce leaders who are different. We said a new Nigeria is possible. But today, what are we seeing?.”