Sole administrator: NLC moves against Abure, demands immediate resignation as LP national chair

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded the immediate resignation of Barr. Julius Abure as National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

The NLC, in a statement on Friday, accused Abure of running the Labour Party as a Sole Administrator by secretly scheduling a supposed National Convention of the Party for March 2024.

Passing a “vote of no confidence” on Abure as National Chairman of the Labour Party, the NLC Political Commission, in a statement jointly signed by its Chairperson, Comrade Titus Amba, and Secretary, Comrade Chris Uyot Secretary, called for the constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive National Convention of the Labour Party.

The statement reads in full: “The Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission has received news of the clandestine scheduling of a supposed National Convention of the Labour Party in March 2024 by the National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.

“This news came as a shock to us as the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was never in any way informed of any plans to hold the Labour Party National Convention.

“We find this development as a further aberration and extrapolation of the mismanagement of the Labour Party through a very strange leadership style of sole administration by the National Chairman of the party.

“Mr. Julius Abure, contrary to the solidarity spirit and camaraderie ethos of the Labour Party, has decided to run the party as a Sole Administrator, the same allegations that have been hurled at him by the numerous persons he is fighting in the party. We affirm that Abure does not have the sole proprietorship of the processes for a national convention.

“On March 20, 2018, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court gave a consent judgment that mandated the Labour Party to hold an all-inclusive national convention. Consequent to this judgement, the leadership of the NLC and the Labour Party, in a process mediated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), signed an agreement mandating the Mr. Julius Abure-led leadership of the Labour Party to implement the following undertakings:

1. Recognise the statutory membership of organised labour in the National Working Committee of the Labour Party.

2. Constitute the Board of Trustees of the Labour Party, and 3. Conduct an all-inclusive National Convention of the Labour Party in line with the court judgement by Justice Gabriel Kolawole.

“Unfortunately, out of all the agreements reached with Organised Labour, the Labour Party leadership under Mr. Abure has partially implemented the recognition of NLC statutory membership of the Labour Party National Working Committee. The rest of the agreement has been tossed aside with impunity by Mr. Abure.

“The several promises by Mr. Abure to fully implement, including the conduct of an inclusive national convention of the Labour Party which has the force of court judgement, has been discovered to be a fluke. His recent attempt to outwit the leadership of Organised Labour and clandestinely hold a national convention buttresses this.

“The court judgement and subsequent agreement between the leadership of the NLC and the Labour Party were all aimed at repositioning the Labour Party as an alternative political platform for Nigerian workers and people with the aim of providing transformational political leadership for the country against the decades of governance failure. This approach is anchored on our understanding that a Labour Party that can drive the Nigeria of our dream must be anchored on integrity and solidarity.

“It was in recognition and solidarity with this ideological approach to political leadership that the Labour Party became the rallying point for all workers and aggrieved downtrodden masses of our people, who have become conscious of the unrepentant betrayal by the establishment political parties of our shared dream of a great nation.

“The NLC Political Commission is concerned that some characters in the Labour Party leadership have failed to identify with the expectation of Nigerian workers and people that the Labour Party must be always above board.

“The continued refusal of the National Chairman of the Labour Party to showcase the leadership qualities epitomised in the founding ideology of the Labour Party presents him as unfit for the position he desperately wishes to cling to and we have now discovered is the reason behind all the crises in the Labour Party. The sole administrator mentality of Mr. Abure has stood in the way of efforts by the NLC Political Commission to intervene and resolve the leadership crises in the Labour Party.

“Our position and interventions in the Labour Party have been in three dimensions.

“First is to defend the Labour Party from being maligned and hijacked by fifth columnists, especially establishment political parties who have invested huge resources to recruit some members of the national leadership of the Labour Party to undermine the party.

“Second, the NLC Political Commission has continued to intervene in the leadership crisis in the Labour Party to ensure that the Party operates an efficient and effective system of management that prioritises inclusiveness, transparency and accountability, not the sole administrator system that has been foisted on the party’s psyche by Mr. Abure and his ilk, who are not committed to the ideology of Labour Party.

“Third, our continued intervention in the affairs of the Labour Party is to ensure that the court judgements, agreements and organ decisions of the Labour Party are kept to the letter.

“Instead of sticking to agreements, Mr. Julius Abure has deployed all manner of subterfuge to undermine the efforts of NLC to reposition the Labour Party as the number one political party in Nigeria, including shunning invitations to meet with the NLC Political Commission.

“Mr. Julius Abure had in April 2023 also tried to unilaterally extend his tenure in office by two years. He was only stopped at the instance of the NLC and Mr. Peter Obi, who insisted that the right thing be done.

“The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission regret the recurrent scandals from the national headquarters of the Labour Party. These unsavoury developments recently appeared to have climaxed by the unfortunate spilling of sour grapes from two leaders of the Labour Party – Barrister. Julius Abure, National Chairman, and Ms. Oluchi Opara, the National Treasurer.

“We are alarmed by claims by Ms. Oluchi Opara that the National Chairman diverted about N3.5 billion of funds received from the sale of nomination forms by the Labour Party and donations for the prosecution of the 2023 political campaigns. Mr. Julius Abure has dismissed these allegations as baseless and has gone ahead to suspend Ms. Opara for six months.

“Viral reports and pictures of the National Chairman of the Labour Party being hauled to the ground like a common criminal and tossed into a security vehicle has added insults to the public opprobrium that the leadership of the Labour Party had been subjected to in recent times.

“There are also pending cases of fraud, forgery and
misrepresentation against the National Chairman of the Labour Party in various courts and police stations in Nigeria. This is a sour misadventure in political mischief, mismanagement and misdemeanour.

“The conduct of Mr. Julius Abure and his maladministration of the Labour Party is totally unacceptable to us. At the top of the crisis of mismanagement in the Labour Party is the extortionist tendencies of Mr. Abure, exemplified by the monetization of the nomination process, including the recent outrageous N30 million charged aspirants in the recent Edo State Governorship primary.

“Amidst the drama plaguing the Labour Party, we are alarmed that it appears that some key leaders of the Labour Party are not concerned about the huge embarrassment, nuisance, and damage to the good image of the Labour Party that their actions constitute. The truth is these scandals do not represent who we are as the Labour Party.

“The presidential flagbearer of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has weighed in on the recent scandals affecting Mr. Julius Abure and has called for a forensic audit into the use of party funds. The leadership of the NLC fully supports the position of Mr. Peter Obi. It is unfortunate that Mr. Julius Abure does not want this to be done before going behind the back of stakeholders in the party to plan for an illegal National Convention.

“It is on this note that the leadership of the NLC passes a vote of no confidence on Mr. Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party. We demand his resignation immediately and we demand the constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive National Convention of the Labour Party. This cannot be hurriedly done as it is required that conventions are done at ward, Local Government and state levels before a national convention is contemplated.

“We also call on millions of Nigerians, who have continued to show faith in the Labour Party, not to despair or be discouraged. The overarching purpose of the Labour Party is to win political power for Nigerian workers, pensioners, farmers, market women, youths, students, and the ordinary people of our country. We remain committed to this purpose, and this is why we want to evolve a leadership of the Labour Party that is totally committed to the ideology of the Labour Party. Forward Ever!”