Peter Obi & Alex Otti are to blame for Labour Party crisis and not federal government—Julius Abure

The leadership camp of the Labour Party (LP) under National Chairman Julius Abure has distanced the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government from the crisis currently destabilizing the party, instead accusing Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti of being the real architects of the turmoil.

This rebuttal comes a day after Obi, the LP’s 2023 presidential flag bearer, blamed the federal government for instigating divisions in the party.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Monday, Obi said:

“This is what you get, always, right? This is what you always get in Nigeria, because we now live in a country of propaganda and lies, and they manufacture it.”

“The problem we have in the Labour Party is a problem instigated and sustained by the government of today.
I don’t need to tell you when you have a party chairman who calls a state governor a dwarf and dwarf thinking. Forget about me, so it’s not weak.”

“Okay, I’m weak, but it’s not weak. Is every other person there weak? So we’re not sincere with ourselves.”

“You speak the truth and they call you names. And we now live in a country of propaganda and lies. They are trying to put problems everywhere, they want to even put problems in families.”

In response, the Abure-led faction, through National Secretary Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim, dismissed Obi’s claims, accusing him of deliberate misinformation and refusing to own up to his role in the party’s leadership crisis.

“It is therefore pertinent to put on record that the problem with the Labour Party was not created by the ruling party (APC), rather the problem in the Labour Party was created and sustained by Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, who is presently serving suspension for anti-party activities.”

“We dare Obi to produce any tangible or intangible evidence which suggests remotely or otherwise that the Abure leadership of the Labour Party is in bed with the APC-led government.”

The LP leadership also challenged Obi to take responsibility for what they see as failed leadership.

“Nobody is infallible and it behoves anyone who makes mistakes to be bold enough to own it. When good leaders fail, they should own up to their responsibilities.”

“Obi failed in providing leadership for the party. He should own up to his mistakes. It is therefore shameful for Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti to continue to accuse the government of infiltrating the Labour Party and by so doing demarketing the party.”

Revisiting the past, the Abure faction highlighted the support the party offered Obi during his 2023 presidential campaign:

“This same government was in existence in 2022 when the party made six aspirants, including Prof. Pat Utomi to step down for Peter Obi as the party’s candidate.”

“The government was in existence when the party crisscrossed all the nooks and crannies of the country including the insecurity prone areas campaigning for Peter Obi in 2022 and 2023.”

“The government was in existence when the national chairman, Julius Abure travelled across Europe and the United States to galvanize support for Peter Obi.”

“The government was also in existence when the party leadership mobilised its members across the state leading to over six million votes won during the election.”

They further claimed that peace existed in the party until Obi and Otti allegedly created a parallel leadership structure in Abia State:

“It was the same leadership that you claimed has been infiltrated that stood with Peter Obi throughout the tribunal and up to the Supreme Court.”

“The same Abure appeared in court more than Obi refusing to be cowed when a splinter group wanted to hijack the process.”

“For the record, there was no problem in the Labour Party until Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti went to Umuahia, Abia State to create an illegal and unconstitutional Caretaker Committee that polarized the party. And may I ask, is it the ruling party that sent Obi and Otti to Umuahia to create a division in the party?”

They also referenced the court rulings which upheld Abure’s leadership, accusing Obi and Otti of ignoring legal verdicts in a bid to forcefully seize control of the party:

“They were also aware that the courts; from the lower court up to the Supreme Court clearly affirmed the leadership of the party, but Peter Obi and Alex Otti surreptitiously plotted to hijack the leadership of the party by instigating the division.”

“Again, is it the government in power that created the division or forced them to march to INEC headquarters to exhibit their ignorance?”

Addressing the controversial exchange of insults between Abure and Otti, the camp defended the chairman’s remarks as a response to earlier provocations:

“For Peter Obi to be responding to the comment where the National Chairman referred to the governor as being dwarfy in knowledge, we want to say clearly that there is no action without a reaction.

The National Chairman was only responding to a pejorative comment made by the governor wherein he referred to the National Chairman as ‘masturbating’.

The governor neither retracted nor apologized for that reckless statement. He showed utter disrespect to the constituted authority of the party; to the man who went out of his way to help him achieve his ambition to be a governor.”

They argued that Otti’s stance displayed a misunderstanding of the legal and political situation:

“If the governor is not limited or dwarfy in knowledge, he would have appreciated the import of the Supreme Court judgement which practically resolved the crisis in the party but these men were only blinded by their inordinate desire to wrestle the party from the present leadership.”

Farouk Ibrahim stated that the party is now focused on rebuilding:

“The party leadership has moved on since the Supreme Court judgement and we are working hard to reposition the party, to restore confidence in our members, and prevent further membership hemorrhage being witnessed across virtually all opposition parties in Nigeria today.”

He concluded by reminding Obi and his allies of the loyalty the party had once shown them:

“Labour Party will never go into any alliance with any other party to betray our candidates. We had every opportunity in 2023 to do so, but we chose to stand by Peter Obi and even Alex Otti before and even after the general election, when their matters were in court, but we were very consistent because of the bigger picture.”

“And now that they have failed in their plot to dislodge a lawful leadership, they have simply resorted to blackmail instead of showing gratitude.”

“One takeaway from Obi’s interview is that he has acknowledged that Abure is the National Chairman of the Labour Party as he clearly stated.”

“We are therefore calling on Peter Obi and other aggrieved members of the party to understand and digest the fact that Barrister Julius Abure leadership has come to stay and nothing can change.”