LP Crisis: Acting Chairman, Okafor initiates reconciliation, plans convention

The Acting National Chairman of the Labour Party, Callistus Okafor has called for an end to over nine years of crisis rocking the party.

The 2014 Acting national chairman of the Labour Party Callistus Okafor has called for a reconciliation committee with Julius Abure’s leadership.

Speaking with journalists on Monday in Abuja, Okafor said, he has invited Julius Abure, for a reconciliation committee meeting alongside the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, and other stakeholders in order to address the implementation of the 2018 consent judgment.

The move was earlier agreed by all factions of the party with a view for an all-inclusive convention.

During a recent meeting attended by the national legal adviser Akingbade Oyelekan and Abdulsalam Abdukadir, it was confirmed that the party leadership had not yet implemented the consent judgment, a development that made the crisis between Callistus Okafor and Abdulsalam Abdulkadir.

The LP 2014 executive members of the party have called for the implementation of a consent judgment entered into in 2018 which would render the Julius Abure leadership illegal..

During a press conference held in Abuja on Friday, Callistus Uju Okafor, the 2014 acting national chairman and Mamman Bukar, the acting national secretary, stated that the 2014 national executive had the legal right to conduct a convention that would address all irregularities in the party.

According to Okafor, he was elected as the deputy chairman in 2014 and became the acting national chairman in 2017 after Abdulsalam Abdukadir was removed from the position due to an alleged financial embezzlement.

However, Okafor claims that Julius Abure, who was at the national secretariat, made himself the chairman.

Okafor revealed court documents to support his claims and emphasised that the implementation of the consent judgement is crucial for the resolution of their long-standing legal battle for the party’s soul.

He explained that prior to the National Convention, the Nigeria Labour Congress requested 10 million membership cards from the LP leadership for its members nationwide. However, the LP national chairman, Barr. Dan Nwayanwu, refused and asked the NLC members to join the party at their respective wards. This disagreement continued until the 2014 convention in Akure, Ondo State.

During the convention which took place on October 11, 2014 presided over by Barr. Dan Nwayanwu, the leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress led by Comrade Abdulwaheed Umar, boycotted the event.

Okafor then discussed a National Working Committee meeting that took place on December 7, 2015 in Lokoja, Kogi state.