NLC passes vote of no confidence on Abure, says handling of LP ‘totally unacceptable’

The NLC also knocked Abure for his “extortionist tendencies” by selling the nomination and expression of interest forms for Edo governorship election for N30 million.

By Jeffrey Agbo

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded the immediate resignation of the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, and called for a caretaker transition committee to organise a “legitimate and all-inclusive” national convention of the party.

The Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) is accused of planning to hold the national convention of the party in Umuahia, Abia State capital on March 27 without the input of stakeholders, especially the NLC.

The planned convention was contained in a notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 13.

However, in an open letter dated March 15, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission – the political wing of the NLC, described the planned convention as illegal, noting that it would not allow any form of illegality in the affairs of the party to stand.

The NLC accused Abure of running the LP as a “sole administrator.”

The letter was signed by the chairman and secretary of NLC Political Commission, Comrades TItus Amba and Chris Uyot respectively.

The NLC also knocked Abure for his “extortionist tendencies” by selling the nomination and expression of interest forms for Edo governorship election for N30 million.

The statement reads: “The NLC Political Commission is concerned that some characters in the Labour Party leadership have failed to identify with the expectation of Nigerian workers and people that the Labour Party must be always above board. The continued refusal of the National Chairman of the Labour Party to showcase the leadership qualities epitomised in the founding ideology of the Labour Party presents him as unfit for the position he desperately wishes to cling to and we have now discovered is the reason behind all the crises in the Labour Party.

“The sole administrator mentality of Mr. Abure has stood in the way of efforts by the NLC Political Commission to intervene and resolve the leadership crises in the Labour Party. Our position and interventions in the Labour Party have been in three dimensions. First is to defend the Labour Party from being maligned and hijacked by fifth columnists especially establishment political parties who have invested huge resources to recruit some members of the national leadership of the Labour Party to undermine the party.

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“Second, the NLC Political Commission have continued to intervene in the leadership crisis in the Labour Party to ensure that the Party operates an efficient and effective system of management that prioritises inclusiveness, transparency and accountability not the sole administrator system that has been foisted on the party’s psyche by Mr. Abure and his ilk who are not committed to the ideology of Labour Party.

“Third, our continued intervention in the affairs of the Labour Party is to ensure that the court judgements, agreements and organ decisions of the Labour Party are kept to the letter. Instead of sticking to agreements, Mr. Julius Abure has deployed all manner of subterfuge to undermine the efforts of NLC to reposition the Labour Party as the number one political party in Nigeria including shunning invitations to meet with the NLC Political Commission. Mr. Julius Abure had in April 2023 also tried to unilaterally extend his tenure in office by two years. He was only stopped at the instance of the NLC and Mr. Peter Obi who insisted that the right thing be done.

“The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission regret the recurrent scandals from the national headquarters of the Labour Party. These unsavoury developments recently appeared to have climaxed by the unfortunate spilling of sour grapes from two leaders of the Labour Party – Barrister. Julius Abure, National Chairman, and Ms. Oluchi Opara, the National Treasurer.

“We are alarmed by claims by Ms. Oluchi Opara that the National Chairman diverted about N3.5 billion of funds received from the sale of nomination forms by the Labour Party and donations for the prosecution of the 2023 political campaigns. Mr. Julius Abure has dismissed these allegations as baseless and gone ahead to suspend Ms. Opara for six months.

“Viral reports and pictures of the National Chairman of the Labour Party being hauled to the ground like a common criminal and tossed into a security vehicle has added insults to the public opprobrium that the leadership of the Labour Party had been subjected to in recent times. There are also pending cases of fraud, forgery and misrepresentation against the National Chairman of the Labour Party in various courts and police stations in Nigeria. This is a sour misadventure in political mischief, mismanagement and misdemeanour. The conduct of Mr. Julius Abure and his maladministration of the Labour Party is totally unacceptable to us.

“At the top of the crisis of mismanagement in the Labour Party is the extortionist tendencies by Mr. Abure exemplified by the monetization of the nomination process including the recent outrageous N30 million charged aspirants in the recent Edo State Governorship primary. Amidst the drama plaguing the Labour Party, we are alarmed that it appears that some key leaders of the Labour Party are not concerned about the huge embarrassment, nuisance, and damage to the good image of the Labour Party that their actions constitute. The truth is these scandals do not represent who we are as Labour Party.

“The presidential flagbearer of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has weighed in on the recent scandals affecting Mr. Julius Abure and has called for a forensic audit into the use of party funds. The leadership of the NLC fully supports the position of Mr. Peter Obi. It is unfortunate that Mr. Julius Abure does not want this to be done before going behind the back of stakeholders in the party to plan for an illegal National Convention.”

The congress then declared; “It is on this note that the leadership of the NLC passes a vote of no confidence on Mr. Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party. We demand his resignation immediately and we demand the constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive National Convention of the Labour Party. This cannot be hurriedly done as it is required that conventions are done at ward, Local Government and state levels before a national convention is contemplated.

“We also call on millions of Nigerians who have continued to show faith in the Labour Party not to despair or be discouraged. The overarching purpose of the Labour Party is to win political power for Nigerian workers, pensioners, farmers, market women, youths, students, and the ordinary people of our country. We remain committed to this purpose, and this is why we want to evolve a leadership of the Labour Party that is totally committed to the ideology of the Labour Party.”