Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in last year’s general elections, Peter Obi, last week paid a surprise visit to the headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday.

However, the visit earlier perceived to be an endorsement of the national chairman, Julius Abure, outlived its glamour quite shortly, as suspension hammer descended on the embattled national chairman over the weekend.

Reports emerged on Saturday that Abure was suspended from the party in Ward 3 in Arue-Uromi, in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State for alleged high-handedness and anti-party activities.

A letter of suspension dated May 14, 2024, and another letter of ratification dated May 15, 2024, both of which were ratified at a meeting of the state executive committee on Friday night in Benin, stated that the suspension is with immediate effect.

It advised Abure to stop holding out or parading himself as a member of the party.

The letter of suspension was signed by the Ward Chairman, Thompson Ehiguese, and Ward Secretary, Stanley Usiomoh.

The embattled national chairman of the party has been caught in the web of several allegations ranging from financial misappropriation to anti-party activities. However, he has continued to deny any wrongdoing.

Obi had addressed his supporters on X space in March after the party’s controversial national convention.

He said he missed the convention because the party leadership, led by Abure, failed to consult widely with important party stakeholders before holding the convention.

The former Anambra State governor also said he was more committed to creating a new Nigeria than a new Labour Party.

But in what seemed like a change of heart, Obi visited the LP office, urging aggrieved party members to put the survival of Nigerians and Nigeria first above all other interests.

He said he was at the national secretariat for a visit to the chairman and that he would continue to work to bring all warring parties over the crisis in the party to become united.

“For now let us talk about how we are going to survive till then because we politicians always focus on the next election and not about human beings.

“Let us focus on Nigeria, and see that Nigeria works, if Nigeria is working, the Labour Party will work,” Obi said.

As expected, Abure seized the opportunity and swiftly urged varying groups of dissent voices over the controversial Nnewi convention to come together.

Abure said they should set their personal interests aside and work for a party that would make a good show in the next election season.

“I want to say this very clearly, the convention has come and gone, all those who are still angry with us over the Nnewi convention, we want to appeal to them and that they should all come together to work with us to build the party for a new Nigeria that has a vision.

“I believe very strongly that personal interest should be put aside and pursue a new Nigeria that will work for all,” he said.

The visit stirred further trouble for Abure, leading to his suspension from the party.

The Edo State chairman of the party, Hon Kelly Ogbaloi, in an exclusive interview said there were heavy allegations against Abure.

He stated that the party’s EXCO in Ward 3 in Arue-Uromi and the Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State presented a document containing various allegations leveled against the embattled national chairman to the state executive committee, leading to the endorsement of his suspension.

He said, “The ward and Local Government EXCOs submitted some documents carrying various degrees of allegations of wrongdoing

“The state council looked at the matter and considered that there was sufficient weight in the allegation and that was why we endorsed the suspension.

“When there are such allegations, what we do is to put such a person in suspension to allow for a thorough investigation and that is what we did.

“He (Abure) was suspended in a personal capacity not as National Chairman but just as a party member.

“We are setting up a committee to look into the allegations so that if at the end of the day, the National Chairman is not found guilty, the suspension can be vacated and he will return as a member of the party”.

Asked to explain the anti-party activities Abure was accused of, Ogbaloi said, “An anti-party here doesn’t mean he has a strong affair with the opposition.

“If there is anything likely to bring the party into dispute, or attitudes that do not follow the objective of the party, we can term it as anti-party”.

On how the current leadership crisis in the Labour Party may affect the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state, he said, “Although we are not clearly separated from challenges as you can see, we are doing our best. We are not losing focus due to the challenges we have at hand.

“We are keeping our parts right and making sure that all the required strategies that can lead us to winning this election are doubled up.

“I can assure Nigerians, especially party supporters, that we are not losing sleep despite the hard times we are currently facing.

“We will get there and compete appropriately like any other political party, we are going there to win the election and nothing else.”

Allegations of embezzlement

It could be recalled that Obi in February 2024 called for a thorough and forensic investigation into an embezzlement allegation against the embattled chairman.

The call by the former Anambra Governor was in response to allegations earlier made by Oluchi Oparah, the national treasurer of the party, accusing Abure of allegedly misappropriating N3.5 billion.

Oparah also alleged that the Abure-led National Working Committee, NWC, was working hand-in-hand with the Edo State Government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the September 2024 governorship polls.

Abure’s face-off with NLC

The Abure-led NWC of the party was recently under attack by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, over allegations of maladministration and fraud.

NLC and some stakeholders of the party accused Abure of running the party as a “sole administrator”, leading to the picketing of the party’s national secretariat.

The Deputy President of the NLC Political Commission, Dr Theophilus Ndubuaku, who spoke when the workers occupied the Labour Party headquarters in Abuja, said the decision to picket the party’s national secretariat was taken to express workers’ grievances against Abure’s style of leadership.

He said, “Now it is in the hands of this usurper, he is looking for N30 million, N40 million, and so on to buy forms, excluding the people who founded the party. Enough is enough, Abure must go,” said the acting General Secretary of NLC, Comrade Bello Ismail on the cost of governorship interest and nomination forms.

Similarly, in a letter issued by Comrades TTitusAmba and Chris Uyot, the chairman and the secretary of the LC Political Commission, respectively, the union also knocked Abure out for not being committed to the ideology of the Labour Party.

Controversial national convention

The Abure-led NWC held a controversial national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State, on March 27 despite opposition from several stakeholders.

Many stakeholders fell out with Abure after the notice of the convention was issued to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on March 13.

The move was rejected by critical stakeholders, such as the House of Reps Caucus and the NLC.

Both Obi and Governor Alex Otti of Abia State did not attend the convention.

Recall that before the exercise, the NLC Political Commission, in an open letter dated March 15, condemned the convention, saying that critical stakeholders were not carried along.

While demanding the immediate resignation of Abure, the commission described the convention as illegal, noting that it would not allow any form of illegality in the affairs of the party to stand.

But despite the controversy, the convention was held on March 27, with Abure and seven other National Working Committee members of the party reelected.

Obi’s romance with Abure divides Obidients

Although Obi had assured Nigerians that the outcome of the investigation into the allegations against Abure would be made public, he has yet to speak on the matter.

Speculation about Obi’s romance with the party chairman was further escalated on Tuesday after the visited Abure’s office at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

Some stakeholders of the party who were not comfortable with the development had distanced themselves from Abure and Obi.

A chieftain of the Labour Party and director of Mobilisation and Contact in Diaspora, Chief Patrick Eholor, at the weekend, expressed dismay over the inability of Obi to resolve the intractable leadership crisis that has continued to plague the party.

According to him, the lack of interest to call a spade a spade, especially in the face of the allegations against Abure speaks volumes of wondering why Obi had not waded into the crisis to save the party.

Eholor said, “Peter Obi has his own tricks on his sleeves, that’s why he is afraid to either condemn Abure or address the matter because of his 2027 ambition. I say that categorically without apologies.

“Labour Party, LP, has its own peculiar problem. Its problem has to do with the leadership. The likes of Peter Obi got the party ticket on a platter of gold.

“If you can’t fix your political party and you continue to sleep with Abure on the same bed with all the allegations within and outside your party, how can we now trust you that you will be able to manage the affairs of Nigeria? If you can’t trust a messenger, how do you now trust his message?

“I sacrificed a lot for Peter Obi and Ahmed Datti. I know my contribution financially and emotionally. I also know the risk that I have taken so far to ensure that Peter Obi becomes the