The Labour Party (LP) has been plunged into a fresh crisis as a former Deputy National Chairman of the party (South), Callistus Okafor, has declared himself the authentic National Chairman of the party.
Speaking to journalists, Okafor stated that the suspended national chairman, Julius Abure, and the party’s acting national chairman, Lamidi Apapa are illegal occupants of the seat.
He claimed to be the right National Chairman of the LP because of his position as Deputy National Chairman of the party when the late national chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, was in office.
According to him, Abure was Acting National Secretary when Abdulsalam died in 2020, and Abure announced himself as the National Chairman of the party without recourse to the provisions of the party’s constitution after Abdulsalam’s demise.
Okafor said: “Both Abure and Apapa are all illegal occupants of the seat. Abure, as acting national secretary, can never be a national chairman of the party unless there is a dissolution and a new convention takes place.
“Apapa that took over can also not preside over any meeting because he is illegal.”
While blaming the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for allowing the crisis in the party to fester for long, Okafor lamented the recent developments within the party and the potential impact it could have on the upcoming legal battle to challenge the results of the 2023 presidential election.
He called on the former Anambra governor to take swift action to resolve the crisis and prevent it from escalating further.
Okafor stated: “Peter did not handle my case very well. He was busy doing his campaigns and maybe delegated incompetent hands to go and sort out the problem. The people he delegated did not do that job very well
“Anytime there is trouble, only roundtable will solve it, and such discussions must not come with threats.
“So, it is disheartening that this kind of thing (leadership crisis) will be happening in the Labour Party that has not seen the kind of light it is seeing today before.
“What is happening now occurred because Obi, as a leader, delegated incompetent people to go and sort out this problem. Instead of sorting out the problem, they were busy threatening and boasting of what they can do. Today, the party is paying dearly for it.
“Instead of Peter Obi to concentrate on his case at the tribunal, they want him to come down and start dealing with the Abure issue? No.
“Nevertheless, the Abure issue, if care is not taken, will affect him (Obi) too badly, because Abure is not the party’s national chairman. The constitution of the party made it clear that the acting national secretary cannot become the Chairman in the absence of the Chairman.”
