The National Leader of the Labour Party (LP), Dr Alex Otti, has said the party is not joining any other coalition because it is already in coalition with Nigerian workers.
Otti, who doubles as Governor of Abia State, spoke on Saturday night after an expanded National Working Committee (NWC) meeting of the party in Abuja.
According to him, the Labour Party “has no intention of joining any other coalition for now.”
He, however, regretted the exit of the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Mr Peter Obi, but said they are working to resolve the party’s problems and to bring everyone on board.
“We have also lost a few members to the defection, especially some National Assembly members, interim national committee members. Despite that, we are still a very strong force,” he boasted.
The governor said the party is going to set up a reconciliation committee “to reconcile everyone who is willing and desires to come back to the party.”
He stated that the Labour Party is ready to welcome back its former National Chairman, Mr Julius Abur,e and his group, “once they are willing to abide by the rules of the party; we would be happy to receive them.”
Otti said he received with joy the news of the uploading of the names of the leadership of the NWC on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) website, and announced the plan for the party to embark on the validation of membership and registration of new members.
“We plan to prepare for the congresses that will start in March,” he said, adding that the congresses and national convention will pave the way for the progress of the party.
The governor regretted that the Labour Party would not participate in the February 21 Area Council elections in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), but expressed the hope that the party would “participate strongly” in future elections in the country.
The meeting, which lasted for about two hours, was attended by members of the Board of Trustees (BoT), the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
