The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party (LP) has asked the Abia State governor, Alex Otti, to stop deceiving members of the public that he (Otti) has not joined what the faction described as his illegal and unconstitutional Caretaker Committee in the opposition coalition movement under the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Abure in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said that the leadership of the Labour Party was in a hurry to recalibrate the party ahead of 2027.
Otti had recently said that he is still a member of the Labour Party and would not join the coalition party.
But Abure said that all the members of Otti’s political camp, “including the chairman of the illegal caretaker committee, Nenadi Usman and Peter Obi had joined the coalition.”
According to the statement, Abure said, “Our attention has been drawn to Otti’s interview where he said that he is still a member of the Labour Party. We are not going to fall for his deception again.”
He questioned, “How can he be in the Labour Party when recently he conducted the local government election in Abia State with Zenith Labour Party as his party?”
Abure said that Otti should not think that every Nigerian is bereft of knowledge.
He alleged that Otti “Formed and he is funding the illegal caretaker committee that had formally joined the ADC.”
He said, “The icing on the cake was the Wednesday unveiling of the coalition where every member of the caretaker committee formally joined the ADC.
“We are shocked that Otti is paradoxically trying to mislead members of the Labour Party to say that he is still a member of the Labour Party.
“In any event, we had earlier suspended him indefinitely from the party because of his anti-party activities.”
Abure said the Labour Party is on the move and has the best brand in Nigeria and is eager to engage young Nigerians who have the interest of the nation at heart.
“We are therefore willing to let go of everyone, no matter how high, whose interest in Nigeria is self driven, opportunistic politicians who are not principled,” he said.
He stressed, “The Labour Party is not and cannot be in any coalition because coalition of political parties are ideologically bereft.
“It is a marriage of political strange fellows whose only agenda is power grabbing. It is selfish in nature and no true Democrat will agree to such amalgam.
“The Labour Party is therefore in a hurry to sanitise itself of people without character.
“It is on this note that I call on Dr. Alex Otti to move on because he cannot be in the Labour Party and be working against the party.”
