Edo State chapter of Labour Party, LP, has alleged that the crisis rocking the party nationwide was caused by its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi and not its National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.
The State chairman of the party, Hon Elizabeth Ativie stated this on Monday at a press briefing in Benin City while reacting to some allegations made against Barrister Julius Abure by Ms Precious Oruche, alias ‘Mama P’.
Ativie alleged that while the assault ensued, Ms Precious Oruche in her posts made some false allegations against Barrister Abure and the Labour Party leadership.
She said that the said Ms. Precious Oruche accused Abure of being the person frustrating Nigerians and that the police has declared him wanted over alleged forgery.
The state chairman of LP alleged that Mr Peter Obi’s failure to resolve and settle post primaries elections protests across the country was the major cause of the crisis in the party.
She also alleged that during the 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the National Working Committee of the party agreed to zone the ticket to the Edo Central senatorial district.
She said the decision follows that of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that had zoned their governorship ticket to the senatorial district.
Ativie added that instead of implementing the NWC decision, Peter Obi allegedly came to Benin to endorse Barrister Olumide Akpata as the party’s governorship candidate.
According to her, “first, we want to state clearly here that the problem in the Labour Party was created by Peter Obi.
“It was him and Dr. Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, that convened the ill-fated and illegally expanded stakeholders meeting in Umuahia, September 4, 2024 for the sole purpose of removing a legally constituted National Working Committee of the party through underhand means.
“Ever since that nocturnal meeting, the party became factionalised.
“Unfortunately for them, with all the alleged inducements and assurances that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will dance to their tunes, nothing came out of it.
“His desperation to control the soul of the party has made him go haywire. This is a man that have received so much goodwill from the party leadership; a man who we laboured for, without even a bicycle as a donation to the party; a man we risked our lives for canvassing through the Sambisa area during the campaigns; a man we stood by all through the legal tussles, even with so much pressure on us, yet we refused to abandon him.
“Yet, the best way to show appreciation was to bite the fingers that fed him. This is why we have maintained that Peter Obi lacks the competence, character and capacity to actualise the vision of a new Nigeria.
“And we call on Nigerians to beware of such a character whose personal ambition is the only thing that matters to him”, she added.