Fresh indications suggest that the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, along with members of his National Working Committee (NWC) and loyalists, will boycott today’s stakeholders’ meeting convened by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
According to sources close to Abure, the planned boycott is a response to ongoing tensions within the party.
The decision to boycott comes just days after the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, expressed his support for Otti’s initiative to hold the meeting.
However, a source within Abure’s camp, speaking anonymously, confirmed that no NWC members would attend.
“We won’t attend it. Were you not at last week’s briefing, where the national chairman subtly warned the governor and other party members to desist from meddling in the party administration? He meant every word he said that day,” the source told The Punch.
The source also criticized Otti’s decision to summon a meeting without Abure’s approval, questioning, “Have you seen anything like that happening in other parties like APC, PDP, or even NNPP?”
Attempts to get official comments from the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, and other NWC members were unsuccessful.
The National Secretary of the Labour Party, Umar Farouk, and the LP National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, were also unreachable for comment.
However, another NWC member confirmed the boycott through a brief text message, stating, “Yes, we won’t be there.”
The rift between Abure and Otti became public after the governor’s initial call for a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was rebuffed by Abure, who urged the governor to focus on governance rather than party affairs.
The tension escalated when Otti suggested dissolving the executives at various levels on the grounds that their tenures had expired—a move Abure firmly opposed.
Despite Abure’s objections, Otti proceeded with his plan, renaming the NEC meeting as a ‘Stakeholders’ Meeting’ and scheduling it for September 4 at the Government House in Umuahia, Abia State.
The meeting was announced in a circular issued by Dodoh Okafor, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Alex Otti on Public Communication.
The gathering is expected to include Peter Obi, his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed, members of the Julius Abure-led NWC, the Abia deputy governor, and both serving and former Senators who are members of the party.
Also expected are serving and former members of the House of Representatives, members of state Houses of Assembly, and gubernatorial candidates from Edo and Ondo states.
