Labour Party’s National Convention: INEC Rejects Abure, Faults Outcome

BY VICTOR BUORO – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cut short the celebrations by Julius Abure as the re-elected National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), describing the process of his re-emergence as fundamentally flawed.

According to the Commission, in its records, no such event as the Labour Party’s National Convention took place contrary to claims by the Abure camp.

Consequently, the Electoral umpire has rejected the process and the outcome in its entirety.

Announcing the decision in Abuja on Thursday, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, pointedly said the conduct of the convention was not monitored by INEC as required by existing law

However, Oyekanmi declined to offer further explanation on reasons for rejecting the Convention’s outcome or why the Commission failed to monitor the exercise as prescribed in the Electoral Act

With the latest development, insiders hinted that the Party’s Board of Trustees has already stepped in to administer the party, with Barrister Abure, who claimed to have been re-elected at the convention, now left in the cold

Meanwhile, Forefront News gathered the Party at the dying minutes on Tuesday, suddenly shifted the National Convention from Umuahia, the Abia State capital to Nnewi in Anambra State over what insiders claimed was “a convenient masterstroke by Abure and his hordes of supporters”.

The Labour Party National Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, while justifying the change in convention venue, told journalists on Tuesday that INEC was officially informed about the new venue as well as the convention date.

Edun stated thus; “No, it is holding in Anambra. Nnewi, to be precise, not Umuahia in Abia State again. In fact, Umuahia was not even the first venue we chose. Benin was the first choice before we changed to Umuahia and now Nnewi.

“So, we are at liberty to pick any venue of our choice. We only need to inform INEC about the change in venue and the time”.

An official of INEC, who preferred anonymity for obvious reasons, said; “The so-called National convention of the Labour Party (LP) held on Wednesday in Nnewi, Anambra State, was conducted in fundamental breach of procedures laid down by INEC”.

The Commission official specifically said that Abure and his team flouted Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which requires political parties to give the Electoral body at least 21 days’ notice of their conventions, congresses, conferences or meetings.

Importantly too, covered in this section of the Electoral Act are the convention or meeting convened for “merger”, and electing members of its executive committees and other governing bodies or nominating candidates for elections.

Also, Forefront News recalls that the Labour Party leadership had ran into troubled waters with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over its decision to organise the National Convention without consulting widely with stakeholders in the Party.