Alhaji Sani Abdulsalam, the Gombe State Chairman of the Labour Party and the coordinating Chairman for the 36 states of the federation, along with other party stakeholders, have given the party a 12-hour deadline to address allegations of marginalisation of party executives across the country.
This came as Abdulsalam demanded the immediate release of all funds budgeted by the party for 2023 election logistics, expressing concern that the party would fail at the polls on Saturday if it did not act.
Abdulsalam, who spoke on behalf of some stakeholders of the party, including the Chairman of LP in Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammad Bukar, and the National Vice Chairman, North-east region, Alhaji Mohammed Alkaji, at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, lamented that funds meant to prosecute the party’s presidential election and those expected to be channeled to polling unit agents through state chairmen or national officers were yet to be seen.
While he stressed the need to urgently mobilise polling units’ agents, he alleged that the party may fail in the polls if the party remains adamant in addressing their demands.
He said their decision was informed by the party’s failure to recognise the leadership role of the 36 state chapters, stressing how they have been abandoned for some cronies and support groups.
The state chairman said: “I speak on behalf of the 36 state chairmen of our party in my capacity as the coordinating chairman. We have never been respected by the party leadership and also our presidential candidate has no respect for our party executives at state levels because Mr. Peter Obi seem to have mismanaged our goodwill with the alleged imposition of his members and other support groups that decamped with him in May 2022 to our party.
“We, the executive and National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party hereby state equivocally that to take back our country and returned it to the original owner’s, all promises made by the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, to all state chairmen must be met, failure which we shall take our destiny in our own hand and give directions to all our members all over the country as we are not ready to waste our votes.
“We hereby give 12-hour ultimatum to the party to provide all the money needed as budgeted for the 36 states of the federation and FCT else we shall take our decisions which would put our destiny in our own hand.”
He said he was surprised that a meeting held at the national headquarters of the party with Abure, “where the discussion was held about the logistics support for state chapters and national officers towards effective mobilisation of our members for the presidential and National Assembly election on February 25, 2023, Abure alleged that Obi has no confidence in all the 36 state chapters’ leadership but would rather choose to work with their cronies and support group that came with him.”
