The Labour Party’s problems appear to be getting worse as police officers have allegedly taken control of its secretariat in Abuja, replacing its national chairman Julius Abure with Lamidi Bashir Apapa, the national vice-chairman (South).
During an emergency meeting conducted at the party headquarters on Thursday, the development was revealed by seven members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party.
Apapa stated that the NWC members followed the Federal Capital Territory High Court’s ruling prohibiting Abure from impersonating the party’s national chairman.
In addition to Abure, the court also placed three other party executives under house arrest for alleged forgery.
“The NWC equally reviewed that recently there are some cases of suspensions that were badly handled.
“And this National Working Committee meeting has reviewed them, and the suspension all over are hereby reviewed and the officers are reinstated.
“With effect from now, the so-called officers who the court had barred should not parade themselves as officers of the party until cases against them are treated or handled by the party”, Apapa shared.
Speaking further, Apapa denied reports of the party being taken over by the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that the current leadership has an unwavering belief in its presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi.
In an earlier statement, Abure accused the ruling APC of employing thugs and a team of police officers to invade the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, the invaders pulled down the fences, burglaries, doors and windows to gain entry into the secretariat, sacking workers and party members in the process.
“Though, I was out of town but information has it that the agenda of the Invaders was to inaugurate an illegitimate executive which has been chosen for them by their sponsors.
“This incident is coming days after a similar invasion in our Imo state Secretariat which up till now is still being occupied by the agents of the Imo state government.
“Only yesterday (Wednesday), our presidential candidate, Peter Obi through the LP Presidential Campaign Council alerted Nigerians of a plot to hound him out of the country over APC’s covert plot in collaboration with some security agents to frame him up allegedly on matters bothering on treason.
“Labour Party is only a political party which is contesting for power.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has conducted an election that ranked us third, a position we have rejected and have approached the Tribunal to contest. That is our only offence.
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his party, the APC to order and also rein them in from using unorthodox means to suffocate political structures in Nigeria”, he stated.