By Eberechi Obinagwam,
Lagos state Chapter of the Labour Party, LP, has urged the party’s presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi to call Mr. Kayode Salako who is parading himself as the state’s party chairman to order.
Addressing a press conference, Vice Chairman of Labour Party in Lagos State, Comrade Tony Masha, said for harmony to be restored in the state party to enable it to succeed in the 2023 general election, Salako should be called to order.
Salako, who addressed journalists at the labour house, Yaba, said the party is intact without any opposition but described Salako as a distraction to the party who is trying to distract the success of the party come 2023 general election.
He said the party is doing everything humanly possible to win the 2023 general election in the state as well as the presidency.
A statement circulated by the group at the meeting said that Salako once told the party members that he is a caretaker committee chairman whose tenure has expired in the past three months, “why is he still parading himself as that state chairman?” the group queried.
“He should stop operating on illegality to distract obedient and followers of Peter Obi and allow the state chairman Tony Marsha to focus on his job of bringing a better leadership in Lagos,” they added.
The party disclosed that in the past four months, Lagos states labour party has been ravaged and plagued with division since a virus called Salako infected the party.
“Salako is a virus sent by APC to destroy the progress and slow the momentum of the party in Lagos state. He is a chairman from the backyard. He is the crook and the mole. Why is he still parading himself as the chairman even when his tenure has expired”
The group also disclosed that up till 15th of April 2022 Salako is and still a card carrying member of the APC. ” he has not officially announced his exist as member of the APC. He still eats and done with members of the APC. Let me bring to your knowledge that Salako’s wife is a strong member of the APC. This is what our party cannot take. We must save our party, which we suffered for years to establish.”
However, Lagos Labour Party enjoined Peter Obi to advise the National Chairman and the National Working Committee (NWC) to recognize and respect the democratic wish of the people as expressed in the composition of the new inclusive Caretaker Committee forwarded to them.
The statement reads: “In particular, they should equally counsel Mr. Kayode Salako to stop interfering with already established democratic structures in the Local Government areas just because he wants to impose his cronies as Chairmen. Such actions, we need hardly add, negate the cherished democratic norms of Labour Party.”
Also, the group in another statement called on the national working committee (NWC) led by Abure to approve the caretaker list that he has requested for which is all inclusive because that is what democracy is all about, “It is all about handing over to the people through a democratic electoral process which we have done, Abure should approve it.”
For emphasis, the crisis according to a release statement started in May when for inexplicable reasons, one Kayode Salako who was not a member of the Labour Party in Lagos state was unilaterally announced as chairman of the Caretaker committee of the party in the state by some National officers of labour party in Abuja after establishing and setting up structures at the local government and ward levels in lagos state.
“All efforts by us to get the National Chairman of the Party, Barrister Julius Abure, to explain the rationale for the bizarre appointment proved abortive. In spite of all that, we still made rapprochement to Mr. Salako and invited him to a meeting at the Labour Party House on 28th July, 2022. At that meeting at the NLC, we inquired to know from Mr. Salako how he could accept to be a caretaker chairman of a political party he is not even a member. We emphasized the need for him to first join the Labour Party in Lagos state and if members found him worthy of leadership, they would so decide. In his response, Mr. Salako explained that he was in his house when Labour Party leaders in Abuja appointed him as chairman of the caretaker committee of Labour Party in Lagos State because the former chairman, Comrade Ifagbemi Awamaridi, had allegedly fallen out of favour with the National Leadership of the party in Abuja!!!”
Essentially, the statement continues “since we are committed to building a democratic, strong, and enduring Labour Party for present and future generations, when the illegal tenure of Mr. Salako’s Caretaker Committee expired on 18th August 2022, we wrote to the National Chairman of the Party through Whatsapp platform on 28th August, 2022 and emphasized the need to set up an inclusive and democratic Labour Party caretaker committee in Lagos State pending when party congress will be held.
In his reply through a text message, on the same date 28th August, Barrister Abure stated: “What’s your suggestion and the modus to have inclusive caretaker committee” Thus on 29th August, 2022, after due consultations, we identified five (5) stakeholders later increased to six (6) stakeholders namely TUC, NLC, Pre-Peter Obi Labour Party, NCfront, Peter Obi Support Groups (POSGs) and Salako Group. It was resolved that while Pre-Peter Obi Labour Party should nominate five (5) persons to serve in the new caretaker committee, the other five stakeholders should nominate four (4) persons each. These suggestions were duly forwarded to Barrister Abule on 29th August and 11th September, 2022 respectively. After the six strategic stakeholders sent their nominees to the steering committee at the Labour House, NLC Yaba, an inclusive Caretaker Committee was composed and forwarded to the National Chairman on 21 October, 2022.”
The vice chairman, Comrade Tony Masha noted that they have told Salako to stop parading himself, as the state party chairman saying that there is a sharp difference between Labour Party and the All Progressive Congress, APC.
“In Labour Party, candidates contest and win their positions, but in APC, positions are allocated and given to party members in their houses. So, you can see the diference and that is the same attitude Salako is displaying”