Senator Nenadi Usman heads 29-Member Caretaker Committee as Labour Party Sacks Abure-led NEC
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
The Labour Party (LP) has appointed a former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, as Chairman of the 29-member Caretaker Committee set up to replace the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
The Caretaker Committee which also has Senator Darlington Nwokocha as Secretary, was set up during a “duly constituted” NEC and expanded stakeholders meeting of the party held in Umuahia, Abia State capital, on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 as part of measures to resolve the lingering leadership crisis that engulfed the party shortly after the 2023 General election.
The meeting, presided over by the Presidential Candidate of LP in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, was hosted by Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, the only governor elected on the party’s platform. It was well attended by those that matter in the party, including all LP federal and state lawmakers.
But the embattled Abure and his allies were not at the meeting where the stakeholders insisted that his (Abure) tenure expired in June 2024 and therefore he no longer has any legitimacy to continue to occupy the office of National Chairman of the party.
In a five-point communiqué read by Hon. Edward Pwajok, the LP 2023 Deputy Governorship candidate in Plateau State, the party stakeholders said that the membership of the Caretaker Committee which has a three-month life span, reflected “various interests and tendencies” in the party.
The diverse interests include the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Senate, House of Representatives, Houses of Assembly and the governorship candidates of LP in 2023.
The communiqué directed the Caretaker Committee to “immediately ensure that the Congresses of the whole party were conducted at ward, local government, state and national levels as soon as possible,” for the election of new party executives at all levels.
The meeting called on “all party members to support the Caretaker Committee to carry out its mandate.”
Earlier in his remarks, Obi had commended Governor Otti for his efforts to reposition the party by ensuring that the meeting held as planned.
“We consulted and discussed” Obi disclosed, before reaching an agreement on the need to convene the expanded stakeholders meeting in order to resolve the troubling issues affecting LP.
The former Anambra State Governor told the party members that they already knew his position in the crisis rocking the party, adding that because of the position he has taken, he has been called all sorts of names.
“Some said I’m not serious; some said I’m weak and should not present myself again as presidential candidate,” he recalled, stressing that unsavoury comments from people would not change his position. He explained that all he wanted was that everything should be done according to due process.
“But I want due process to be followed. Whatever we are going to do in future, I want everybody to be free to participate in it,” he said.
“In going forward, let everybody learn to sacrifice for the party,” Obi added.
The LP national leader further explained that the meeting was not meant to suspend or sack party any members, hence “nobody would be secluded after this meeting.”
Senator Usman, in her response, said that the Caretaker Committee has been saddled with a big responsibility, but assured the party stakeholders and elders that they would work to put back LP in its proper place.
She noted that the crisis rocking LP has been denying it of prospective members, adding that “people have not registered with LP because of the problem that bedevilled the
