Otti, Abure fight over Abia LG polls
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Preparations by the Labour Party for the forthcoming November 2, 2024 Local Government elections appears to have run into troubled waters with the emergence of two camps, each issuing different directives.
The two camps represent the interests of Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, headed by the Acting State Chairman of Labour Party, Emmanuel Nwaeze Oti; and the embattled former National Chairman, Julius Abure, who the immediate-past State Chairman and currently the National Vice Chairman, Southeast, Ceekay Igara, is fronting for.
Igara recently nominated as the party’s Chairman in charge of the Abia LG elections by the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC), had announced the cost and venue for sale of forms to aspirants. According to him, forms for the Chairmanship position goes for N500, 000 while that of Councillorship is N200, 000. He said the forms could be bought in Aba (for Abia South aspirants), Umuahia (for Abia Central) and Bende (for Abia North).
Hardly had the announcement seen the light of the day than the Emmanuel Nwaeze Oti-led leadership shot it down, saying that the Committee put together by the Abure-led NWC was not known to the state and advised party faithful to discountenance Igara and his co-travellers.
Oti, in a statement in Umuahia, termed Igara’s announcement as “unauthorized and misleading,” and gave a hint on how the party intends to go about its party primaries for choosing its candidates for the local government elections.
“The Labour Party Abia State is not interested in extorting members of the public nor obtaining money from them by trick, hence we are poised to ensure that the sale of forms and selection of candidates are done in a responsible, orderly and peaceful manner so as to ensure that peace reigns even after the exercise,” he said.
The Acting Abia LP Chairman’s statement reads in part: “The attention of the Labour Party, Abia State Chapter, has been drawn to a radio announcement issued by the Former Chairman of the Labour Party in the state, Mr. Ceekay Igara, directing members of the public on where to purchase nomination forms for the Party’s Primaries ahead of the forthcoming Local Government Election in the state.
“The public is hereby enjoined to disregard the unauthorised and misleading announcement, because Mr. Igara’s tenure had expired alongside other members of the state and National Working Committee which prompted INEC to cease to recognise them. It is on this basis that the party set a National Caretaker Committee chaired by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman.”
The statement further warned: “Any statement or instruction concerning the affairs of the party shall emanate from the Caretaker Committee. Anything to the contrary should be viewed as an act of impersonation, and properly reported to the appropriate quarters.”
