The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory district, Ireti Kingibe, on Tuesday, knocked former chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure Over the crisis in the party and endorsed the 29-member caretaker committee established by the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti and the national leader of the party, Peter Obi.
Obi was the 2023 presidential candidate of the party.
Otti had last week hosted party stakeholders to oversee an expansive national convention which led to the establishment of the 29-man committee with Nenadi Usman as chairperson.
They have been tasked with organising congress and national convention of the party where a new national working committee of the party would emerge.
THE WHISTLER reports that the two leaders have also written to the Independent National Electoral Commission notifying it of the caretaker committee and the task of organising the congress and convention.
Abure and his National Secretary, Umar Farouk, and the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, were notably absent from the enlarged stakeholders’ meeting held in Umuahia, the state capital, on Wednesday.
Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of a four-day free medical outreach, which she facilitated for her constituents in Abuja, the senator said every Labour Party member knows the tenure of Abure, and his National Working Committee ended in June 2023.
Kingibe who was represented by her senior legislative aide, Dr Chris Omofoma, at the event said the same Otti and Obi had in 2023 requested an extension of Abure’s tenure by a year to help recover from the 2023 presidential election loss yet are being opposed by the beneficiary of that decision.
She said, “There is really no crisis in Labour. Abure’s NWC refuses to admit that their tenure has ended. Even INEC has clearly stated that Abure’s tenure ended in June 2023.
“However, Alex Otti and Peter Obi extended it by one year so the party could recover from the (2023) election losses before conducting the national convention.
“So, their tenure was extended to June 8, 2024, which has now lapsed.
“So, whatever Alex Otti, Obi, and other party stakeholders are doing is in line with the constitution and INEC guidelines. It is now up to Abure to accept the reality that his tenure is over, and it is time to do what is necessary.
“I fully support the Nenadi Usman-led committee. That is the way forward. Anything else from the Abure-led NWC is illegal,” she said.
She however lauded Tuesday’s medical outreach as a great success.
She said the target was to provide essential medical services to 5,000 members of her constituency in the FCT.
The free medical outreach is being organised in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, with people seeking eye tests, free treatment, and referrals for suspected cataract cases treated.
Senator Kingibe Knocks Abure Over LP Crisis, Backs Otti’s Reconciliation Committee is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
