‘Utomi has no power to appoint spokesperson for Obi’s media group,’ says Labour Party

Labour Party (LP) has denied appointing Professor Charles Okadigbo as spokesperson for the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, as earlier announced by a chieftain of the party, Prof. Pat Utomi, Friday.

A statement signed by Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Arabambi  Abayomi, Saturday in Abuja, stressed that the National Consultative Front (NCF ) had no constitutional power to make appointments for the party.

Abayomi further added that only the National Chairman, Julius Abure, could do that.

 “Our attention has been drawn to the news intercepted through multiple news media that one Mr Charles Okadigbo has been appointed as the Spokesman of Labour Party by Prof.  Pat Utomi.

” It is not undisputed that LP has not made such appointment since Utomi who is the leader of NCF cannot usurp the function of the National Chairman.

“For the records, Utomi who is the leader of the NC , a strong affiliate of the LP , while in a zoom meeting introduced Charles Okadigbo as the Media Head of the “Big Tent” , an acronym for the NCF and  No mention of LP was made on that platform.

“All appointments by the LP are made through the office of the national chairman and announcement made by the national publicity secretary under the directive of the national chairman,” he said.

According to Abayomi, for emphasis and clarity, Article 14 sub section 1(a) of the Labour Party Constitution states as follows:

”The national chairman shall give leadership to the party and shall preside over all meetings of the National Executive Council and the National Working Committee of the party.”

He said the constitutional provision quoted above, vested the power of all appointments and leadership only  to the person and the office of the national chairman.

“LP now uses this opportunity to say the LP is guided by the constitution in all its activities.

” As  such,  all members of the party as well as interested members of the public presently in LP should from here on, take serious caution that the function of the national  chairman as head of LP is not in question,” he said.

Abayomi, therefore, urged that everyone should obey the constitution of the Labour Party and be guided by the party’s directives.

It would be recalled that on Friday, reports emerged that Professor Charles Okigbo has been appointed the Media Director for the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, the candidate of the party in the 2023 General Elections.

In a statement released via his Facebook page, Friday, Jack Obinyan, a member of the organisation for the Peter Obi-Datti Yusuf Baba-Ahmed ticket, also disclosed the resume of Prof. Okigbo.

“Prof. Okigbo is a professor emeritus of strategic communication at North Dakota State University (USA), where he conducts research on media coverage of elections, strategic fundraising in higher education, and the processes for leadership development and social change.

“He had been Registrar of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Vice President of ORBICOM, The UNESCO Think Tank at the University of Quebec, Montréal, Canada, and the Executive Coordinator of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

“Prof. Okigbo had taught full-time or part-time at the University of Nigeria (UNN), University of Lagos (UNILAG), Daystar University, Nairobi, and the University of Nairobi. He has been a consultant and temporary adviser to UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, Ford Foundation, and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

The Don has published seven books on advertising and public relations, dev com, strategic health communication, public affairs reporting, and market.”