The Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has accused the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) of mismanaging the ongoing leadership crisis in the party.
It urged the national chairman of the party, Barr Julius Abure to resign now that the ovation was loudest.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, James Ezema, the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in the country equally hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for resisting what it described as obvious pressure to use its officials to endorse the outcome of the recent contentious fractional national convention of the party.
In view of the obvious lack of internal democracy in most of the political parties in Nigeria, the statement said that INEC has done well for the sake of advancing democracy by resisting obvious pressure to use its officials to endorse the outcome of the recent contentious national convention organised by a faction of the party.
The statement said, “Therefore, we call on Barrister Julius Abure to make himself the hero in the crisis by tendering his immediate resignation as the National Chairman of the party.”
It noted that Nigeria was supposed to be a liberal democracy, where inclusive representation, rule of law, and protection of the rights and liberties of individuals within the political parties must be encouraged by all democrats and democratic institutions.
The statement said that the judgment of the Federal High Court in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/866/2014 between Labour Party and 3 Ors. vs. Com. Salisu Muhammed, unequivocally declared the Labour Party as an institutional political party founded, promoted, and registered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on behalf of the Nigerian Workers.
It explained that the Julius Abure faction of the party misfired by holding the purported national convention of the Labour Party when it fell short of an expansive and inclusive exercise as ordered in a widely publicised subsisting court order.
Leaving out NLC and other critical stakeholders in its consultations ahead of the convention, CNPP observed, was a miscalculated move, recalling that the former national chairman of Labour Party, Dan Nwanyanwu, on leaving office, submitted the Labour Party’s certificate of registration to the union in recognition of Labour Party as an institutional political party founded, promoted, and registered by the NLC.
It stated that the current leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party was needless and avoidable if basic ingredients of democracy, including inclusivity, justice, and accountability, were observed.
