A chieftain of the Labour Party, LP, Kenneth Okonkwo, has stated that he is not a member of the party under Julius Abure’s leadership.
He made this statement on Friday on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, while admitting that he is still a member of the LP.
“As it is now, I have already left if Abure is the Chairman,” he said.
According to report in July 2024, the Nollywood actor-turned-politician announced his departure from LP.
He also parted ways with the former presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi.
However, during the programme, Okonkwo, a former spokesman for the Labour Party’s presidential campaign council, clarified his resignation, insisting that he is still a member of the LP.
He emphasised that he was against the LP leadership under Abure.
“I am a member of the Labour Party, but not under Julius Abure. If Abure manages to wangle himself in and becomes the National Chairman, it is automatic,” he stated.
According to report the Labour Party has been plagued by crisis, as both the party’s Caretaker Committee, led by Esther Nenadi Usman, and Abure have been laying claim to the party’s leadership position.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, earlier invalidated Abure’s leadership, stating that the national convention violated the Constitution and Electoral Act.
The situation compelled the party to appoint Usman, a former senator representing Kaduna South, as the chair of its 29-member caretaker committee on 4 September 2024, after Abia State Governor Alex Otti convened a stakeholders’ meeting of the party in Umuahia.
The party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, were among the top party members who attended the meeting.
In January, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
In a judgment delivered on 17 January by Hamma Barka, the court ruled that its earlier decision in November 2024, recognising Abure as the party’s chairman, remains valid and has not been overturned by any court.
The ruling came in response to two separate appeals filed by Nenadi Usman, the party’s caretaker committee, and INEC.
