Obi, Otti shun Abure’s warning, hold parallel NEC meeting

Not more than 48 hours after the Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee of the Labour Party threatened to sanction party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, over Wednesday’s meeting.

The Acting Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku, and Obi’s media aide, Umar Ibrahim, disclosed this in two separate phone chats.

The clarifications come in the wake of speculations that Obi and Otti had chickened out following Abure’s threat of sanction.

“Who are those speculating about the nonsense? This is the real theatre of the absurd. If someone were acting this out as a Nollywood script, everyone would say this scriptwriter is a foolish and demented scriptwriter. Nigerians can innovate the good, the bad and the ugly,” Ndubuaku kicked.

The union leader, however, confirmed that he would be attending the event.

Ibrahim also dispelled the insinuation, saying all the invited stakeholders are ready to storm the venue today. He said, “It is not true. There is nothing like that. If it was postponed, I would have issued you and other media persons an official statement on that.”

When asked about the threat of sanctions on his principal and the governor, the spokesman declined to comment.

“We don’t want any drama with the Labour Party or join issues with members of the party,” he said.

Recall that earlier report showed that the Abure-led NEC sacked LP Caucus Leader in the House of Representatives, Afam Ogene, from his position over his alleged involvement in anti-party activities.

The NEC also vowed to direct the disciplinary committee to sanction Obi and Otti if they go ahead with their planned stakeholders’ engagement on Wednesday and other activities that may undermine the party.

The development was announced in the communique read to journalists by the Labour Party’s National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk, at the end of a NEC meeting held at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

Earlier, both Abure and Obi had simultaneously called for separate meetings of the National Executive Committee to discuss the future of the party following Friday’s judgment by the Supreme Court.

While Abure’s NEC was held at the national headquarters on Monday, Obi and Governor Alex Otti moved their stakeholders’ summit to Wednesday to a yet-to-be-named venue.

The feuding parties made the summons in separate terse statements made available to newsmen.

When contacted for reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, insisted that the NEC, which is the highest organ in the party, has made its position known.

“However, we are watching the development and will respond at the right time,” Obiora said.