Labour Party Crisis Deepens As Third Person Lays Claim To National Chairmanship

The Labour Party (LP) has plunged into fresh crisis as a former deputy national chairman of the Party (South), Callistus Okafor, declared himself the authentic national chairman.

Okafor, at the weekend while speaking to journalists, stated that the suspended national chairman, Julius Abure, and the Party’s acting national chairman, Lamidi Apapa are illegal occupants of the seat.

He claimed to be the right national chairman of the LP because he was positioned as the Party’s deputy national chairman when the late national chairman, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, was in office.

According to Okafor, Abure was acting national secretary when Abdulsalam died in 2020, adding that Abure announced himself as the national chairman without recourse to the provisions of the Party’s constitution.

His words:

“Both Abure and Apapa are all illegal occupants of the seat. Abure, as acting national secretary, can never be a national chairman of the party unless there is a dissolution and a new convention takes place.

“Apapa that took over can also not preside over any meeting because he is illegal.”

Blaming LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for allowing the crisis in the party to fester for long, Okafor lamented the potential impact the crisis could have on the upcoming legal battle to challenge the results of the 2023 presidential election.

He however called on the former Anambra governor to take swift action to resolve the crisis and prevent it from escalating further.