Ex-National Organising Secretary of the Labour Party, LP, Chief Clement Ojukwu, has expressed regret over the series of litigations, which he said have adversely affected the party’s fortunes since the 2023 general elections.
Ojukwu, who until recently aligned with Julius Abure, the party’s erstwhile National Chairman, has pledged allegiance to Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership.
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In an interview in Abuja yesterday, the former NoS noted that the LP produced 34 House of Representatives members, eight senators, and 80 members of state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections, but that “now we lost all of them. I don’t think we have up to five members in the National Assembly.” While appealing to aggrieved party members to sheath their swords and support the new party leadership, Ojukwu urged Julius Abure and members of the former National Working Committee, NWC, to withdraw pending litigations to pave the way for genuine reconciliation.
Ojukwu said, “Litigations are killing political parties. We have seen many political parties that are no more because of litigations, and LP is going down on daily basis. I decided, for the interest of the party, to join hand to work with the caretaker committee to redeem the LP. And I also want to use this opportunity to call on my colleagues at the national level, at the state level, at the local government level, let us come together, and rebuild our party.
Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So, I will call all my colleagues in the other faction to let us come together and rebuild this party. The caretaker committee has created a reconciliation committee; let us come together and dialogue so that we can redeem the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”
Ojukwu dismissed claims about the existence of factions within the party, saying, “There is a verdict from the court, and since they are valid and the rightful people are in the seat, factions no longer exist.
The former scribe denied allegations that his membership in the Senator Usman-led NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group.
He said, “Why am I with this group? It is because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed.”
Vanguard
