The Labour Party on Friday dismissed the purported suspension of its national chairman, Julius Abure, by its Ward Executive in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, saying the masterminds were being sponsored by opposition parties.
The LP said no reasonable party member would be thinking of suspension when they are pursuing their presidential mandate in the Election Petition Tribunal and all other mandates including the Governorship, Senate and House of Representatives that were brazenly stolen.
The National Secretary of LP, Farouk Umar, in a statement, also blamed the purported suspension of Abure as the handiwork of opposition parties plotting to distract the party.
According to him, the party’s constitution was clear on who can suspend and who cannot suspend the national chairman.
Umar directed that “they should go and read the party’s constitution.”
Some members who claimed to be ward executives of the party had slammed suspension on Abure over alleged forgery and anti-party activities.
The Ward Chairman, Martins Osigbemhe, at a press conference, explained that Abure was suspended by the executive, pending the determination of the numerous petitions and cases against him in courts.
Martins while reading the statement of Abure’s suspension signed by seven out of 11 member ward executives, accused him of illegally substituting candidates of the party in the recently concluded general elections.
But Umar in a statement clarified that it is only the national convention that can suspend the national chairman of the party, adding that it must also be through such a convention called for the suspension of the national chairman.
He said, “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party was called to the press conference held today Friday, March 31, 2023, by some unknown faces assembled in one room in Abuja wherein they pronounced a suspension on our national chairman, Julius Abure. They also made some spurious allegations against him which are untrue and concocted by the sponsors of the press conference. We however deemed it fit to make some responses.
“The young men we saw on that visuals are not anybody from Labour Party in Edo State as claimed. The executives of the party in the State, Local Government and my ward are well known to the party. None of them was at the press conference. We make bold to say that they are people assembled and rented from some Abuja slums and paid to read a prepared speech given to them.
“Again, our party’s constitution is clear on who can suspend and who cannot suspend the National chairman. They should go and read the party’s constitution. It is only the national convention that can suspend the national chairman of the Labour Party. It also must be through such a convention called for the suspension of the national chairman.
“We think that the sudden suspension was an afterthought of some opposition parties purely to distract the leadership of the Labour Party at this time. There is no reasonable party member at this point who will be thinking of such a thing when we are pursuing our presidential mandate in the court and all other mandates including the Governorship, Senate and House of Representatives that were brazenly stolen.
“Who will be contemplating the suspension of any national party official at this point? It is on record that for the first time in the history of the party, the Abure-led leadership has succeeded to change the political narratives in the country. A party from the blues competing with the top two political parties and in the process, won eight Senate and 34 House of Representatives as well as numerous House of Assembly seats. We also won a governorship seat while we are in court to retrieve other mandates including the presidency.
“This is certainly not a matter that should be given serious attention by the media. We ordinarily should be talking to our lawyers by now but the fact that you are dealing with faceless individuals who are been sponsored is.
“We are also calling on Nigerians to distance themselves from politicians who take pleasure in maligning political leaders, especially, politicians who are afraid of the rising profile of our national chairman, Julius Abure.”
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