The Julius Abure faction of the Labour Party (LP) has accused its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti of instigating the party’s ongoing leadership crisis, challenging Obi to prove his claims of Federal Government’s interference
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This stance starkly contradicts Obi’s recent claims and absolved the Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of any involvement.
The Abure faction asserted that the LP was stable until Otti and Obi allegedly established a caretaker committee while the tenure of the Abure leadership was still in effect.
This accusation follows an interview on national television on Monday, where Obi blamed the crisis in the LP on the Federal Government, alleging that it was using infiltrators to destabilise the party.
‘The problem we have in LP is a problem instigated and sustained by the government of today’, Obi had stated.
In response, the National Secretary of the Abure faction, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, issued a statement challenging Obi to provide proof for his allegations.
‘The problem with the LP was not created by the ruling party. Rather, the problem in the Labour Party was created and sustained by Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, who is presently serving a suspension for anti-party activities’, Ibrahim said.
The Abure faction went further to dare Obi to ‘produce any tangible or intangible evidence which suggests remotely or otherwise that the Abure leadership of the LP is in bed with the APC-led government’.
They criticised Obi, stating, ‘nobody is infallible, and it behoves anyone who makes mistakes to be bold enough to own it. When good leaders fail, they should own up to their responsibilities. Obi failed to provide leadership for the party. He should own up to his mistakes’.
According to the statement, it is ‘shameful for Obi and Dr. Otti to continue to accuse the government of infiltrating the Labour Party and by so doing demarketing the party’.
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The Abure camp also recalled the sacrifices LP had made in the past to accommodate Obi’s candidacy in the 2023 election, underscoring their perceived support for him before the current fallout.
