John Alechenu
The national chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, has threatened to unleash the full weight of the law on those instigating the formation of parallel structures within the Labour Party (LP).
The LP national chairman also expressed disappointment that elected members of the Labour Party have failed to fulfill their financial obligations to the party since assuming office nearly two years ago.
Abure said this during a town hall meeting organized by the Lagos State chapter of the party.
This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja on Friday.
He quoted Abure as appealing to the Obidient Family to work towards owning the party by registering as party members to qualify for participation in the forthcoming congresses scheduled for June and July 2025.
Abure said, “We are willing and ready to absorb all the Obidients into the Labour Party. All you need to do is go to your ward as an Obidient and register. The party has only one structure; all the others are counterfeit.
“ A party cannot have two conflicting structures, a party can only have one structure and I advice, if you do not want to be left out of the scheme of things, find your way into the main structure. Those who are doing parallel structure, candidate structure will lose out at the end of the day.”
Regarding the relationship between the party and elected members, Barrister Abure said, “It is a fact that they don’t respect the party; it is a fact that they don’t make contributions to the party. As I speak with you today, we have not received one kobo at the national level from those we elected to the national Assembly.
“The responsibility of running this party is still with the party’s leadership. As of today, we have six senators, about 30 Reps members, and numerous House of Assembly members, but it will shock you to know that none of these lawmakers have contributed a dime to the party since their election in 2023.
“Let them go and ask other parties, it is those elected under their platform that fund the party. Today, most of them want to have control over their local government and for us to hand over their constituencies to them, yet they are not ready to work or partner with the party. Is it fair?.”
The national chairman also promised to investigate the grievances of the Lagos State party faithful. He said, “I want to appeal to our members in Lagos State who may have one grievance or the other arising from the imperfection witnessed in the 2023 general election to keep their grievances aside.
“ We cannot continue to dwell in the past. Those who did not get the party ticket in 2023 election may have the opportunity to do so in 2027. And for some of you who have special cases, I plead with you to come and present the matter to the leadership of the party, instead of fighting ourselves in the social media. As long as I am the National Chairman, those with genuine cases will be given special attention in the 2027 general election.”
The town hall meeting, which witnessed the defection of top political personalities in the state into the Labour Party, was also attended by party stakeholders, including national and state lawmakers, ward, Local Government, state executives, and some members of the National Working Committee. The Labour Party governorship candidate in the 2023 governorship election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, was also in attendance.
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