Labour Party crisis designed to whittle down Obi, Datti's drive - Tanko

The spokesman of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, has disclosed that the ongoing crisis over the leadership of the party was orchestrated to dampen the spirits of the party's flag-bearer, Peter Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed.

Tanko made this known while appearing on a Channels Television programme, "Sunrise Daily," on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Pulse reports that a Federal High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) issued an order restraining four individuals including the National Chairman, Julius Abure, from parading themselves as National Officers of the Labour Party.

The order, issued on Wednesday, April 05, 2023, by Justice Hamza Muazu, followed an ex-parte application argued by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), James Ogwu Onoja.

The lawyer had alleged that Abure, the National Secretary Farouk Ibrahim, National Organising Secretary Clement Ojukwu and one other individual, forged several documents of the FCT High Court to perpetrate unlawful substitutions in the just concluded general elections.

But, Tanko believed the matter should not have been so escalated if it were all about Abure alone. He said those involved could have explored the party's internal conflict resolution mechanism established by its constitution to resolve the issue.

The campaign spokesman explained that the party's constitution stipulated that the National Chairman can only be removed from office on the vote of no confidence passed by two-thirds of the national convention specifically convened for that purpose, adding that such action was yet to be taken.

Abure has been under the cosh in the past few days following his purported suspension by his Ward Executive in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State.

Although the party has come out to dismiss the purported suspension, some members of the National Working Committee took over the party's secretariat after the restraining order of Wednesday and nominated Lamidi Apapa as the Acting National Chairman.

Meanwhile, Tanko insisted that Labour Party members must obey the party's constitution and seek first to resolve the issues internally.