Labour Party Factional National Chairman, Julius Abure, has blamed the party’s former presidential candidate, Peter Obi and the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, for the crisis plaguing the party.
Abure made the claim during an appearance on Arise Television on Wednesday.
He asserted that the crisis in the party started after Peter Obi and Otti went to Umuahia to set up a caretaker committee.
“I want to make it very clear that Peter Obi and Alex Otti created the crisis in the party. The party was moving easily, sailing; it was playing the role of opposition under my leadership. The crisis in the party actually started when Peter Obi and Alex Otti went to Umuahia to set up a caretaker committee. That was not my creation. I didn’t create the crisis. I was a unifier in the party, built the party. I took the party from nothing to where it was. It was the leadership that we provided that attracted Peter Obi to join the party. So, Alex Otti and Peter Obi are the ones that went to Umuahia and created a faction in the party, and that’s where we are. So, for me, you have seen that he has become a rolling stone that is difficult to gather moss,” he said.
Responding to claims that his leadership tenure expired in 2024, Abure maintained that a fresh mandate was secured before the deadline.
“The tenure didn’t expire. The tenure was to expire on the 9th of June, 2024. And before the expiration of tenure, on March 27, 2024, a new national convention was held where the current leadership emerged,” he said.