A Labour Party chieftain, Yunusa Tanko, has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the only body that can decide whether the recent intervention in the party by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and Peter Obi is legal.
The intervention of Governor Otti and Obi, who was the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, saw the composition of a 29-man caretaker committee to lead the party in the interim.
The Committee is to be chaired by former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman.
Responding to a question regarding the legality of the intervention on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Tanko said that can only be decided by the INEC.
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“It is left for INEC to look at the legality and make pronouncement. So, I have nothing to do with that at the moment because they are the electoral umpire. They know what the law says, it is better for them to make the pronouncement,” Tanko said.
A former Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Darlington Nwokocha, was also appointed as the Secretary of the committee which the party leaders that gathered at the meeting summoned by Otti said will midwife an election of new leadership in 90 days.
Other members representing various interest groups including NLC, TUC, Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly, and Gubernatorial Candidates in the last election were also part of the committee.
However, the Julius Abure led leadership of the party rejected the committee, saying that the meeting called by Otti was illegal as they asked Nigerians to disregard the outcome.
A statement signed by the publicity secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, said the meeting was not organised by the party and therefore does not reflect its position or interests.
The Abure camp also expressed shockthat “the so-called chairman of the caretaker committee is not a registered member of the Party. She surfaced during the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign to assist Peter Obi in his campaign.”
