The National Working Committee of the Labour Party (LP), led by its National Chairman, Barr Julius Abure, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, reconciled aggrieved members of Edo LP aspirants on Wednesday night in Umuahia.
This came in response to the emergence of Barr. Olumide Akpata as the state governorship candidate in their recent primaries.
Following the meeting that concluded early Thursday morning, Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti assured attendees that he would provide legitimate support to the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in Edo State, Barr. Olumide Akpata.
This support includes reconciliation efforts to enhance Akpata’s chances of victory in the upcoming election.
Governor Otti expressed confidence in Barr Akpata’s capacity to run in the election and emphasised his readiness for the forthcoming elections.
“We discussed the affairs of the party, and you can see both the candidate and aspirants. We sat down together, took a report of what happened, looked at all the issues to facilitate reconciliations, preparing for the upcoming election later in the year.”
“Reconciliation is very vital. People sometimes get offended after an election, and it can always happen. I can assure you that there is a lot of progress that we have made today.”
In an interview, the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barr. Julius Abure, stated that they were in Abia to discuss the outcome of their primary elections with Governor Otti and the party’s leader.
“We just concluded our party primaries in Edo, and the fallout is what you see us dealing with today under the leadership of His Excellency, the Governor of Abia State.
We were able to bring most of the aspirants together with the candidate to form a formidable force for the campaign. I am sure all the gray areas that the aspirants had have been sorted out today. We are coming out more united, stronger, and ready to face the challenges in Edo.”
He dismissed rumors of internal crises in the party, stating, “I must make it clear that the internal crises you talked about are overblown. Apart from the issue we had with the National Treasurer, we have no other internal matters. All other ones we’ve been having are external, and we have dealt with them sufficiently.”
Barr Abure praised Governor Alex Otti for his achievements in Abia State within nine months in office and emphasised the commitment and passion of the Labour Party in serving the people.
The Labour Party Governorship candidate in Edo State, Barr. Olumide Akpata, highlighted the aspirants’ visit to Abia to meet the Governor and the leader of the Labour Party in Nigeria.
He commended Governor Otti’s impact in Abia State as a unique selling point for the Labour Party, describing it as a people-centric party and the last hope of Nigeria.
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He expressed optimism about emerging victorious in the forthcoming Governorship election in Edo State.
Other dignitaries at the event included the LP National Secretary, Ahl. Farouk Umar, LP National Organizing Secretary, Chief Clement Ojukwu, National Woman Leader, Madam Dudu Manuga, and Abia State Labour Party Chairman, Chief Ceekey Igara, among others.