Victor Ezeja
Prominent Labour Party chieftains including Prof. Pat Utomi, Valentine Ozigbo, and Oseloka Obaze, among others, have expressed their confidence in the newly constituted Caretaker Committee of the party led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman.
Usman, a former minister of finance and lawmaker, was appointed chairman of the Labour Party’s Caretaker Committee during an extended stakeholders meeting held in Umuahia, Abia State capital on Wednesday.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelUsman had represented Kaduna South senatorial district from 2011 to 2015.
Immediate-past Senate Minority Deputy Leader, Senator Darlington Nwokocha from Abia Central will serve as the Secretary of the committee.
The extended stakeholder meeting was convened by Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti following widespread concerns that the party was heading to disaster if nothing was done to salvage it.
Usman is expected to lead the 29-member committee to rescue the party from the current leadership crisis. The committee is expected to complete its assignments in 90 days which include organising a national convention to elect new leadership from the ward to national level.
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Among the top party members present at the stakeholders meeting that recorded massive attendance include 2023 presidential candidate of LP, Peter Obi; his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed; Senator Victor Umeh; LP governorship candidate for LP in 2023, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, LP governorship candidate in Enugu State, Chijioke Edoga, and lawmaker representing Enugu north senatorial district, Okey Ezea, among others.
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Prof. Utomi in a post on his X handle on Wednesday evening said he is delighted by the decision of the Labour Party leadership which he described as setting “the party on course for the renewal of Nigeria and advance of the common good.”
Utomi expressed his “full confidence” in the new party leadership chaired by Senator Nenadi Usman.
He called on all patriots in the country to give their full support to the Usman leadership, expressing optimism that with strong leadership, “Nigeria will rise up again.”
“Trusting that civility is about to return to the public sphere I urge patriots everywhere to back the Nenadi Usman team, join the Labour Party and broaden its base for social transformation. Nigeria will rise up again,” Utomi stated.
The Prof. of Political Economy further observed that the outcome of the meeting shows that the “Labour Party could get its house in order and put aside those putting themselves ahead of the common good and focus squarely on the Nigeria project.”
He congratulated Otti for his leadership and wished Usman a resounding success.
Veteran diplomat and LP chieftain, Oseloka Obaze, highlighted the need for following due process in the conduct of the party leadership activities.
“The grundnorm of democracy, is following due process, collegiality and inclusivity. Rebuilding LP requires focussed and concerted leadership action. That process, belated as it seems, did commence in Abia. In the mission to save Nigeria, there can be no conscientious objectors,” Obaze stated.
On his part, a former governorship candidate of the PDP in the Anambra State’s November 2021 polls, and currently LP chieftain, Valentine Ozigbo, congratulated the new members of the new leadership team.
Ozigbo said the new leadership of the Labour Party “offers new hope and beginnings for our great party.”
He hailed Obi and Abia State Governor Otti for their demonstration of strong leadership and the “bold step” taken in convening the meeting where the committee was constituted.
“I join millions of Labour Party (LP) members and supporters in congratulating the 29-member Caretaker Committee at the National Executive Committee (NEC)/Extended Stakeholders meeting held in Umuahia, Abia State Capital. Led by distinguished Senators Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwaokocha as Chairman and Secretary, respectively, they offer new hope and beginnings for our great party,” Ozigbo stated.
He expressed belief that this is a “golden opportunity to reposition the party into a much more vibrant popular movement that would attract new membership and enthrone a strong and disciplined party leadership that will lead in galvanizing Nigerians from the Ward, Local Government, State and national levels.”
He urged “all members to cooperate with the Caretaker Committee and the other members representing various interests, including the NLC, TUC, Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly and gubernatorial candidates in the last election to ensure the success of the new direction and assignment.”
“The Labour Party emerging from this should serve as the rallying point for restoring long-suffering Nigerians’ vanishing hope and confidence and be the answer to their yearning for the enthronement of democratic and good governance ideals at the Ward, Local Government, State, and national levels,” he stated.
Abure Faction Kicks
National chairman of the party, Julius Abure, and his supporters rejected the outcome of the extended stakeholder meeting.
In a statement signed by Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity secretary, of the party, the Abure-led group described the meeting in Umuahia as illegal.
The statement argued that the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, and all others who have converged in Umuahia “have no power within the Party Constitution, the Electoral Act and even within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convene any meeting of the Party.
According to the group an expanded Stakeholders’ meeting is not an organ known to the Constitution of the party.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
