- Trade Union Veterans Demand Abure’s Resignation As Chairman, Want Enlarged Trustees to Include Obi, Otti, LP Legislators
By Abiola Olawale
The crisis rocking the Labour Party has taken a huge turn as the union that founded the party, Trade Union Veterans (TUV) has demanded the resignation of Julius Abure from the position of the National Chairman.
The union in a communique issued in Lagos said the call was made in the wake of the graveous allegations of fraud against Abure, of which have greatly dented the image of the Party.
In the communique signed by Comrade Lawson E. Osagie, the union also lamented that the noble ideas that were the reasons for the creation of the Labour Party were being desecrated by Abure.
They also accused Abure of refusing to implement the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, brokered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and signed by all stakeholders but preferred to sideline the Board of Trustees headed by Comrade Ejiofoh and all those who laboured tirelessly to get Labour Party registered because of his hidden agenda which had now come to the open
The statement reads: “We cannot sit down and continue to watch as the ideals, principles, and ethical values of the Labour Party we toiled so much to build over the decades are being rubbished by one man.
“Consequently, we urge Abure to step aside now as the National Chairman of the Labour Party and in his place, the Board of Trustees should appoint a Caretaker National Chairman that will organise Congresses in the States before the National Convention can be convened.”
TUV members stressed the need for the Board of Trustees under the Chairmanship of Comrade Ejiofoh to be enlarged to accommodate representatives of the new stakeholders namely Mr Peter Obi, Governor Alex Otti, and the Labour Party Legislative Caucus, saying “This body will be charged with the implementation in spirit and letter of the MOU referred to earlier.”
They posited that the Supreme Court under Justice Uwais ruled long ago that workers have the right to form a political party to defend and promote their interest, noting “How then can any well-read and informed lawyer say that NLC has no business in politics or is a meddlesome interloper in the affairs of Labour Party formed by the Trade Unions themselves.
“For the benefit of those who want to know, the 2009 Constitution of the Labour Party in which NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC Presidents, and Secretaries are made statutory members of National Executive Council, NEC, of LP were the input and contribution by the Edo State Council of LP and Julius Abure was Secretary of the subcommittee on the Review of the Constitution while Comrade Lawson Osagie was the Chairman and a Benin-based legal practitioner, Adams Aliyu was also a member.”
They argued that “Abure’s current rhetoric about the role and place of NLC in the LP is not only disappointing but embarrassing to the culture of comradeship and solidarity of the trajectory and historical perspective of the labour movement in general and LP in particular.
“Those attacking the Presidents of NLC including the current one, Comrade Joe Ajaero for defending the ethical values of the founding fathers of LP now being desecrated by Abure are not informed or knowledgeable in the hierarchical structure or organs of the NLC and how decisions are made.
“No individual takes decisions at the NLC. It must go through organs such as the National Administrative Council, NAC, the Central Working Committee, CWC, and the NEC. This is the old tradition which is still followed and respected religiously because NLC is a democratic organization in which power resides in organs and not in an office.
“Abure has refused to implement the MOU brokered by INEC and signed by all stakeholders but prefers to sideline the Board of Trustees headed by Comrade Ejiofoh and all those who laboured tirelessly to get the Labour Party registered because of his hidden agenda which had now come to the open.
“The Labour Party was recommended by the then Political Bureau set up by General Ibrahim Babaginda (rtd) during his transition as the 6th Political Party to be registered but the process was scuttled when General Babaginda opted to form the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the National Republican Convention, NRC.
“The struggle to form the Labour Party continued until it was eventually registered as Party for Social Democracy Party, SDP, and after the NEC meeting in Bauchi in 2001, the name of the Party was changed to Labour Party.”
The New Diplomat reports that Abure had been battling several allegations of fraud levelled against him. The now suspended National Treasurer, Mrs Oluchi Oparah, had called out Abure over alleged misappropriation of party funds and abuse of power.
The suspended treasurer who addressed a press conference in Abuja had demanded that Abure provide an account of party funds over N3.5bn being proceeds of the sale of forms and sundry fundraisers for the 2023 general elections
It would also be recalled that on February 21, 2024, Abure was arrested in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Though he was released 24 hours later, the police said Abure was arrested for attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and related offences.
