By John Alechenu
With 6,101,533 votes representing 25.40 percent of the total votes cast in the 2023 Presidential election, the Labour Party, LP, and its Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, registered their presence as a force to be reckoned with on Nigeria’s national political landscape.
Observers of political events took note of the fact that Obi’s entrance into the LP after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, only weeks earlier turned the race for Nigeria’s topmost job from a two horse race to a three horse race.
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Soon after the elections and the litigations which soon followed, the Labour Party descended into chaos with a struggle over leadership positions by power brokers who hitherto shelved their differences to prosecute the 2023 general election.
First, it was a dispute between the party’s former National Secretary, who later became National Chairman, Mr Julius Abure and the party’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Alhaji Lamidi Apapa, over the National Chairmanship. After a series of litigation, the combatants suspended the fight.
However, the temporary truce was ruptured when the party’s former National Treasurer, Ms. Oluchi Okpara launched a ferocious attack on Abure’s credibility and leadership.
She accused the party leader of failing to account for over N3.6 billion of party funds generated from the sale of nomination and declaration of interest forms as well as donors before, during and after the 2023 polls.
The accusations attracted the intervention of Peter Obi who demanded a forensic audit of the party’s finances and the publication of the outcome. The outcome of this request is yet to see the light of day.
