The factional leader of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has blamed the party’s 2023 Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of failure to manage its leadership crisis.
Abure said that the party’s crisis started after the 2023 election with Obi allegedly contributing to the crisis through his alliance with Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
He made the allegation while addressing newsmen on Monday.
Abure disclosed that some members of the Labour Party who considered Obi as the leader of the party of account of his presidential candidacy pitched tent with him during the crisis.
‘It is not as if we wouldn’t have had crisis, but I provided leadership to the party that kept it together. But after the general election, some people now defected to him.
“Some people who won the election, some people who saw him as the leader of the party started going to him when the crisis in the party started.
“Probably he didn’t know too that some powers that be are also out to destroy the party, and he followed the Governor of Abia state to destroy the party.” He said.
While maintaining that former Anambra state governor regretted the collapse of the party, Abure accused him of running away from the crisis rather than providing leadership.
He held that Obi’s decision makes him unfit for politics which, according to him, is characterised by controversies, crisis, and disagreement.
“And today, I want to believe that even if Peter Obi doesn’t come out to say that he regrets what happened with the Labour Party, I’m sure he regrets it.
“He may not fully admit it, but I want to say clearly that he didn’t manage the crisis in the party. He didn’t provide leadership in the party.
“He didn’t manage it well. And this is where some people are now asking questions that if you run away from crisis like he said himself that anywhere there is trouble, he runs away from it.
“Then politics is not for you because politics is about controversy, crisis, and disagreement. It is an organisation where there are varied interests.
‘And as a leader of the party, you have the responsibility to apportion those interest.” Abure said.
NPO Reported that the Labour Party’s leadership crisis had stemmed out of the disagreement by the party leaders over the extended tenure of Abure as National Chairman.
Some of the members and leaders of the party spearheaded by Otti maintained that his tenure is over.
Sequel to Abure’s refusal and organisation of a National Congress where he was re-elected as the party’s chairman by his loyalists, the Otti-backed faction organised another congress which saw the emergence of Sen. Nenadi Usman as the party’s caretaker committee chairman.
The development would swiftly plummet into series of litigation cases which lingered on until last month when the Supreme Court affirmed the sacking of Abure as the party’s National Chairman.
However, he still parades himself as the party’s leader while affirming that the Labour Party will contest in the 2027 General Election under his leadership.