- Abure, No Longer In Control Of LP, just masturbating –Otti
- Otti Not Just Dwarfy In Size But Also Dwarfy In Knowledge — Abure
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Indications have emerged that the crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) has not been laid to rest despite the recent verdict by the country’s apex court concerning the party’s leadership tussle.
This is as prominent members of the party have continued to embark on massive war of words culminating in heated exchanges between the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti and a factional National Chairman of the LP, Julius Abure at the weekend.
Otti drew first blood while featuring in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ where he claimed that his camp had retrieved the party leadership from Abure, who had spent the last few weeks ‘masturbating’ over how he was still in control of LP.
Otti said, “This is a democracy, and sometimes you must stand for something. I can’t say I wouldn’t leave the Labour Party; what if the party is non-existent tomorrow?
“The party that brought me to power is Labour. Okay. Today, we have fought and retrieved the Labour Party. I will send you the Supreme Court judgment, and when you finish reading it, you will know that Abure is just masturbating.”
However, Abure did not take Otti’s remarks lying down as he swiftly fired back at the governor, describing him as a clueless man.
Abure maintained that Otti was nothing before LP gave him a platform to become a governor.
He made the statement on Friday night at the ongoing emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at the LP secretariat in Abuja.
He said, “I would say that it is most appropriate at this point to respond to him (Otti) so he doesn’t think that he’s the only one who can speak. As mature leaders of this party who believe in the growth and development of the country, we made them.
“Without sounding immodest, we made Governor Alex Otti, we supported him, made sacrifices, refused bribes and denied offers for him to become the governor that he is today. But today, he was again on Arise Television and deliberately tried to misinform members of the public in respect to the Supreme Court’s decision.
“My major worry was his foul language when he said that he was laughing at us because we were still holding on to the leadership and masturbating at the party. Number one, dwarfy and Lilliputian men used to be men of greater ideas. It is only Alex Otti that I will see who is not only dwarfy in appearance but also dwarfy in knowledge.”
According to him, the Supreme Court judgment is clear when it states that issues of leadership are a domestic affair of the party.
Abure described Otti as a ‘jester’ stressing that he was embarrassed seeing the governor walking with people he dismissed as “renegades” of the party to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission under the guise of submitting the apex court verdict.
Abure said, “It is clear. When the Supreme Court says it’s a domestic affair of the party, what does it mean? Even a layman who didn’t go to school will know that the constitution of the party will be supreme. Therefore, for him to again be on national television today after they paraded themselves like crickets to INEC headquarters, was disgraceful.”
“See how a whole governor belittled himself, carrying the Supreme Court CTC, because he thinks he can intimidate and harass INEC if he submits the CTC. But we know INEC is a civilised organisation that believes in the rule of law, that is guided by rules and regulations.
“I want to say, clearly, that Otti is not a good representation of our party. We went to the street in 2023 to tell Nigerians that the Labour Party are going to produce leaders that will be different. We told Nigerians that a new Nigeria is possible. But today, what are we getting?” he queried.
