New twist in LP leadership battle as ex-deputy national chairman lays claim to chairmanship position

The ongoing leadership crisis in the Labour Party (LP) took a new twist at the weekend as a former Deputy National Chairman of the party (South) Callistus Okafor, declared that both the suspended national chairman, Julius Abure and the acting national chairman of the party, Lamidi Apapa are illegal occupants of the seat.

Okafor who claimed that he remained the authentic national chairman of the party, explained that he got the post by virtue of his position as Deputy National Chairman of the party when the late national chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam was in office.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Okafor claimed that Abure, who has now been restrained from parading himself as party’s National Chairman by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court was Acting National Secretary, when Abdulsalam, died in 2020.

While applauding the decision of the court, Okafor further alleged that Abure announced himself as National Chairman without recourse to the provisions of the party’s constitution, following Abdulsalam’s demise.

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Speaking on his case where he went to court to nullify the LP’s national conventions of October 9, 2018; June 10, 2019; and March 29, 2021, where new executive officers were elected, Okafor stated: “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 took place.

“Apapa that took over can also not preside over any meeting because he is illegal.”

Okafor further expressed concerns about 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 blamed the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi for allowing the crisis in the party to fester for long.

(The Guardian)