The head of the Obi-Datti campaign organization, Yinusa Tanko, stated that Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, had recommended an inclusive convention, but Julius Abure, the national chairman of the Labour Party, had rejected it.
Tanko revealed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.
He said the Labour Party’s current issue could have been avoided if the leadership had heeded Obi’s advice.
According to Tanko, the party’s recently finished national convention, which reinstated Abure as national chairman, was not inclusive.
He said, “His Excellency, Peter Obi, has made a concerted effort in trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to improve.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi) suggested to the national chairman that because we are bigger now, we need to have a wider consultation:
“…meet with responsible and interested people such as the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group – young generation people who are interested in seeing Nigeria work. Meet with leaders who have different ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.
“All of these were the suggestions that he (Obi) made, and not only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with the members of the National Assembly.
“He (Obi) met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and you could improve our situation but of course, you know how politics is, sometimes, people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink water, so that’s exactly what Peter Obi has done, he has done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we find ourselves in,” he said.
Tanko went on to say that although Abure is free to run for national chairmanship once more, it is only appropriate that the necessary procedures be followed, allowing more individuals to participate in the process.
According to him, Abure broke the original terms of their agreement to have an inclusive national convention that should begin at the municipal, state, and ward levels before moving on to the national level.
According to the Obi-Datti spokesman, not all members of the party approved of the Nnewi, Anambra State convention that reinstated Abure as the party’s head because it did not follow the terms of the agreement.
In response to a question about whether Obi’s party instability might cause him problems in the upcoming election, Tanko stated that Obi is his own brand and that others will follow him anywhere he goes.
Recall that, in spite of the Nigeria Labour Congress’s (NLC) adamant opposition, Abure was unanimously re-elected as the National Chairman of the Labour Party for a second term at the convention held on March 27 in Nnewi.
The Board of Trustees of the party maintained that Abure’s term had ended, although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also stated that none of its representatives observed the convention.
The NLC demanded that Abure resign from his position as party chairman and that a caretaker transition committee be established right once in order to plan a lawful and inclusive national convention for the party before the contentious gathering.
