By Abiola Olawale
Ahead of the 2027 political permutations, the Labour Party’s 2023 Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has indicated his intention to intervene in the internal discord within the party.
Obi, a two-term governor of Anambra State has appealed to all aggrieved members of the party to sheath their swords and embrace peace for the greater good of the Labour Party.
Obi who spoke during a meeting of the National Working Committee of the Labour Party on Tuesday at the party secretariat also called out to the former Deputy National Chairman, Lamidi Apapa to give up any grievances and work with the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure.
According to him, the Labour Party cannot progress in the light of the internal crisis currently affecting the party.
He said: “Let me tell you one thing, their reconciliation is all about our party and I can assure you that everyone must reconcile with each other.”
On why he attended the NWC, Obi said that he was early at the party Headquarters to initiate a peace and reconciliation process in the party in order to resolve the brouhaha involving a faction of Labour Party groups.
He continued: “During our meeting, before we learnt that our people were outside, I told them that my first assignment was reconciliation, my second assignment was reconciliation and my third assignment, reconciliation and I can tell you that what you witnessed earlier is a normal thing in our lives, I do the same thing. It is what I do every day even in our families. When we quarrel with our wives and children, we reconcile. Even today during the meeting, I made one instance which is that I have come to start the work of reconciling the family.
“So these people here are members of the family who we must reconcile with. We are going to sit down around a table and decide the future of our party. I am ready for a reconciliation meeting any day you choose.
“And I like what happened here today. This means we have just started the reconciliation process and what we achieved today was so much, as I told you sometimes it happens in my house and I allow it because that is the only way I know how mature my children have become.”
Earlier in his speech, Abure expressed satisfaction with the leadership roles Obi has been playing in the party in making sure that the party returns to a formidable entity strong enough to engender the new Nigeria every party member hope for.
He said: “The Labour Party is happy with your reconciliation project and we will give you all the support. We are not the aggressor here, we have always wanted peace because we can’t go into future elections with divided loyalty.
“We have said that we are focused on 2027, that is why we are the only party that has produced its candidate for the 2027 presidential election. We know where we are going and we have refused to be distracted. We will get to our destination of giving Nigerians a better nation.”
The New Diplomat reports that the Labour Party has been witnessing a crisis in the past few months.
Several stakeholders in the Labour Party had demanded the resignation of the party’s chairman, Julius Abure over allegations of misappropriation of party’s funds and misuse of power.
Also, Abure had also survived a political tussle with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) under the leadership of Comrade Joe Ajaero.
The NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee, over his failure to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Indeed, the situation took another dramatic turn when Abure was purportedly suspended in a letter dated May 14, 2024, by his Ward in the Arue-Uromi area of Esan North-East Local Government in Edo State for alleged high-handedness and anti-party activities.
However, the National Working Committee of the party kicked against the action, declaring the suspension as illegal and unconstitutional.
