The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party on Friday urged the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – the party recently adopted by leaders of the opposition coalition.
The party said it is important for the Abia governor to join the opposition in the plot to oust President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress from power in 2027.
In a statement signed by Obiorah Ifoh, the party said the coalition needs Otti more than the Labour Party.
Recall that Otti’s camp led by former minister, Nenadi Usman and the Abure faction of the Labour Party have been involved in a long political and legal battle over the leadership of the party.
At a decent event, the governor debunked reports of his plan to join Peter Obi and other leaders in the coalition party.
Otti while stating that he remains a member of the Labour Party said he has no plan to join the coalition as nobody has invited him.
However, in its statement, Abure asked Otti to stop deceiving members of the public.
According to Aburr, Otti has “joined his illegal and unconstitutional Caretaker Committee in the coalition party.”
He said the leadership of the Labour Party is in a hurry to recalibrate the party ahead of 2027.
“Our attention has been drawn to Otti’s interview where he said that he is still a member of the Labour Party. We are not going to fall for his deception again. How can he be in the Labour Party when recently he conducted the local government election in Abia State with Zenith Labour Party as his party?
“He should not think that every Nigerian is bereft of knowledge. He formed and he is funding the illegal caretaker committee that had formally joined the ADC. The icing on the cake was the Wednesday unveiling of the coalition where every member of the caretaker committee formally joined the ADC.
“We are shocked that Otti is paradoxically trying to mislead members of the Labour Party to say that he is still a member of the Labour Party. In any event, we had earlier suspended him indefinitely from the party because of his anti-party activities,” Ifoh said.
He further noted that the Labour Party is on the move again and has the best brand in Nigeria.
The statement added that the leadership of the Labour Party is eager to engage young Nigerians who have the interest of the nation at heart.
“We are therefore willing to let go everyone, no matter how high, whose interest in Nigeria is self-driven, opportunistic politicians who are not principled.
“Labour Party is not and cannot be in any coalition because coalitions of political parties are ideologically bereft. It is a marriage of political strange fellows whose only agenda is power grabbing. It is selfish in nature and no true Democrat will agree to such an amalgam. The Labour Party is therefore in a hurry to sanitise itself of people without character.
“It is on this note that I call on Dr. Alex Otti to move on because he cannot be in the Labour Party and be working against the party,” Ifoh said in the statement.
