Hon Obi Aguocha represents Ikwuano/ Umuahia North/ Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives. In his interview before the recent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Labour Party (LP), he speaks on the leadership crisis rocking the party among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

Have you received the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgement on your party’s chairmanship tussle?

If so, what does it say, and is Julius Abure in or out? Well, I have not personally seen the CTC and I’m sure almost every well-meaning stakeholder in the Labour Party must be waiting to see the CTC. But going by the ruling, the Supreme Court decision is very clear.

Very clear in the sense that Julius Abure was recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through a court order and the Supreme Court has set aside that determination of the trial court and the Court of Appeal that recognised him as the national chairman of Labour Party. So, that means since that determination of the court is now invalid, Abure is no longer the chairman of the party.

But that’s not the way Abure sees it. He says that the court may have set aside the judgement, but there is a context to it, and as far as he’s concerned, he and his supporters don’t accept your version…

Even at that; if he’s saying like the court also said that this is the determination of the party. The party will meet tomorrow (last week Thursday) in an extraordinary NEC meeting of the party and we will look at all these issues and determine a way forward for the party with Abure or not.

The owners of the party will look at the party holistically, not just who becomes chairman, but look at the way forward for the party.

I know that a lot of people are disappointed with Labour Party, the way things have gone, and we not being able to have keep the party as the beacon of hope for many Nigerians who came out en mass to elect Labour Party.

We won the presidential election but it was rigged. But I think a lot of people are saying thank God that we are taking responsibility in order to reposition the party.

There is no political party in Nigeria that is not going through what Labour Party is currently going through but what matters is the leadership of the party has been able to turn the page in its determination to chart the way forward for our party, including the determination of who becomes our chairman. Labour Party is made up of many people and with different ideologies and different interests.

The party is going to be the platform for Nigerians who have lost hope in the system due to lack of opportunities to realise their dream of a better country

So, Abure is just but one, just like I am but one. Now, what we are saying is that all of us will come together, look at the status of the party, and ask the question: Where and how do we want the party to operate going forward, not just in 2027, but to be the desired opposition right now.

Where exactly does power lie in the Labour Party right now?

The power lies in the National Executive Council of the party, we are going to meet and when we meet, we will determine the way forward for the party, including the leadership structure of the party.

If we had done otherwise, it would have been subjudice. The matter was in court. Now, let’s even pause for a moment and see how we got here.

That will give us a view of how we’re going to get out of it. The tenure of Abure expired in April 2023. The NEC met, gave him an extension that expired in June 2024. INEC stopped recognising Abure thereafter. Now, INEC was compelled to recognise Abure based on a court order of the lower trial court and the Court of Appeal.

Now, the Supreme Court has set aside the judgements of the trial court and Court of Appeal, saying that the matter should not have come to court, that it is an internal matter of the Labour Party.

Since INEC recognised Abure by a court order, that order has been set aside by a superior court. So, as of today, at the determination of the court, Abure is not the chairman of the Labour Party.

So, the NEC will come up with a straightforward position that will now hopefully enable us to start to rebuild the party and to rebuild the confidence that people had in our party and present our our manifesto to the people again for 2027. I still believe that Labour Party, above all consideration, is still the best hope for Nigerians.

How are you going to resolve this crisis despite the fractures that are so deep?

What I can assure you is that we’ll come out of it better, stronger and more formidable, and the platform will be veritable to ensure that the governance structure of Nigeria, if given to the Labour Party, will be safeguarded.

If you do resolve the crisis; what would you recommend that the party should do to speed up its recovery process and to restore its battered image in the eyes of the Nigerian public?

The first thing we’ve got to do is to put a credible leadership and present that leadership to Nigerians. Abure can also be part of that leadership because nobody’s pushing anybody aside but what we want to be able to do is to ensure that the processes as enshrined in our constitution are followed.

So, we have to organise credible congresses that start from bottom up, to elect our leadership, to effectively ensure our internal democracy first within the party before we can go out and start talking about Nigeria.

Do you think that the party should start believing or behaving as if it can lead and not merely protest because it sounds like a bunch of union people on the streets?

You can’t wish away the import of union. All I can say to you is to watch and see what will happen immediately after our NEC decisions. We are going to take decisions that will ensure return of the confidence Nigerians had for the party but it starts from us having a credible leadership.

Where does Peter Obi stand in this rebuilding effort?

There’s no denying the fact that Labour Party is what it is today because of Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti, among many others.

Nigerians still see Labour Party as the platform that will give them hope, and I believe that we are determined to move our party forward and to seek to obtain power and to have Peter Obi, most likely, to run on the Labour Party platform.

How true is the belief by some people that no one has the capacity or the clout to ensure discipline in Labour Party and to create one single tribe?

You’re saying this with the impression that you think that a political party has to be homogeneous. It’s not so. There are going to be different ideologies, different interests and other stuff that come together.

But we have accommodated that in what has happened over the last few months with the challenges in court and the rulings of the court.

Now, we have a specific judegment from the court. The next thing to do is to put a credible leadership in place and present them to Nigerians.

Hopefully, all of you who may have been disappointed with Labour Party, will be clapping that we are now getting it right and I want to assure you that the party is going to be the platform for Nigerians, who have lost hope in the system due to lack of opportunities, to realise their dream of a better country.