The governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, has said that the party will produce a presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
He said that the internal crisis and feud within the political party are now things of the past following the party’s successful national convention.
Otti, who is the national leader of the Labour Party, spoke at the inaugural National Working Committee (NWC) meeting following the party’s national convention held over the weekend in Umuahia, Abia State.
The governor also added that the party is open and willing to accept and welcome Julius Abure and other suspended members back into the party, adding that most of the members who were in Abure’s camp were physically present at the convention.
He said the party has absolute confidence in the national chairman of the party, Senator Nenadi Usman, for being found worthy to lead the party for the next four years.
Otti also said that the Labour Party is not part of the Ibadan summit that brought leaders of the opposition coalition together in Oyo State, hosted by Governor Seyi Makinde.
Asked if the likes of Abure would be received back into the party fold should they decide to return, Otti said: “It is part of the charge that we gave the National Working Committee to reconcile and bring back as many people as possible. And you can see that it is happening. We declared that there were no vanquished and there were no winners. Everybody is a winner, so we keep our doors open, even for Abure to return to the party that he had worked for. So the disagreement is over; we are now reconciling and reintegrating and ensuring that the party becomes stronger,” he said.
On the Ibadan summit, he said: “Unfortunately, we are not part of the summit. We are holding a convention, so we are not bound by what happened there. We did not attend.”
The governor also said that the party would field a candidate in 2027, adding: “Absolutely, we’re a political party, so if you are a member of the party and you want to run, we’ll give you a ticket.”