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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Labour Party (LP) has berated its lawmakers in the House of Representatives for calling for postponement of the party’s planned national convention, saying the caucus has failed to be true ambassadors of the people.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement issued on Monday, also warned the lawmakers to respect party supremacy or face disciplinary action.
Recall that the House of Representatives caucus of the Labour Party had called for the postponement of the national convention scheduled to hold at the end of March.
The leader of the LP caucus in the House of Representatives, Afam Ogene, had in a statement said that the postponement was necessary to allow for further consultations in light of the party’s lingering leadership crisis.
The LP NWC had in a letter dated March 13, 2024 notified the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the proposed national convention of the party.
The letter said that the venue was changed from Benin City, Edo State, to Umuahia, Abia State, while the date was also lchanged from March 29 to March 27.
The proposed national convention had pitched the party against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and lawmakers elected on the party’s platform.
The NLC and some supporters of the former presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, have called for the sack of LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, for planning to hold a convention without the input of stakeholders in the party.
However, Ifoh said that the statement by Ogene, the Reps caucus leader, shows that the lawmaker lacks knowledge of the provisions of the constitution of the party under which he was elected.
“We had expected that, even though he is coming from the background of the PDP and APC, he should not mistake the APC and PDP constitutions for that of the Labour Party. We would like to educate him to note that as the other parties’ constitutions are different,so is the Labour Party.
“In line with Article 15:1-4 of our party constitution, there is no equality of tenure. While the ward, local government, and state executives have three years of tenure, the national executive has four years of tenure.
“We therefore advise our lawmakers to desist from rushing to the press on party matters. Party internal matters must remain internal matters. The party will not hesitate to discipline any party member who does not respect the supremacy of the party. The party is prepared to defend its ideology and constitution at all times, irrespective of whose ox is gored,” Ifoh added.