The Labour Party (LP) last night said its convention slated Nnewi, Anambra State tomorrow will go on as planned. The acting National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said all was set for the event. “Yes, the convention will hold as planned. Delegates have started arriving,” Ifoh said. Deputy National Chairman, Ayo Olorunfemi, also confirmed the convention would go ahead.
The decision to hold the national convention has pitted the National Chairman Julius Abure against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which is calling for his resignation. The party has twice shifted the convention venue from Benin City, Edo State to Umuahia, Abia State to Nnewi in Anambra.
On Sunday, the founding fathers joined their voices in calling for Abure’s sack. The NLC insisted that the planned convention was illegal. It called for the setting up of a caretaker transition committee to organise a “legitimate convention”.
Also, the House of Representatives Caucus called for the postponement of the convention. The caucus leader, Victor Ogene, asked the leadership to put an end to the infighting and engage in further consultation. The caucus said many stakeholders, including the lawmakers, were not carried along on the plans.
Former NLC President Ayuba Wabba had also said Abure and his team were perpetrating illegality and that the LP had deviated from the founding fathers’ ideology.
He dismissed the allegation of an attempt to hijack LP levelled against NLC President Joe Ajaero, saying it was designed to whip up sentiment. Wabba said Abure’s tenure had expired, and that a national convention cannot hold without ward and state congresses. The ex-NLC president also insisted that the NLC owns the LP, as decided by a court.
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