Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) transition committee staged a protest on Tuesday to demand the resignation of Julius Abure, national chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

The committee, tasked with revitalising the party towards a national convention, is chaired by Abdulwaheed Umar, a former president of the NLC, while Sam Amadi and Abiodun Olamosun are co-chairmen.

According to Channels Television, Omar and some other members of the labour union marched to the LP’s headquarters in Abuja, chanted solidarity songs, and called for the resignation of Abure.

The protesters, who argued that Abure’s tenure as LP chairman had expired, were denied entry into the premises.

Police officers fired teargas to disperse the protesters, who were shouting “open the gate”.

The LP has been embroiled in a leadership crisis since Lamidi Apapa, the deputy national chairman of the party (south), declared himself the acting national chairman last year.

The crisis deepened when a national convention of the party held in Anambra saw Julius Abure re-elected as chairman of the LP despite opposition by a faction.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it did not monitor the party’s national convention.

The board of trustees (BoT) of the party described the convention that re-elected Abure as a charade and added that Abure’s tenure was over as national chairman of the party.

In May, the party inaugurated a transition committee to reposition LP as a party to reckon with in the Nigerian political space and conduct a new national convention.

Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, has been named as the chairman of the southern governors’ forum.

Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, was also named as the vice-chairman of the forum.

On Monday, the southern governors met in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

Abiodun will replace Rotimi Akeredolu, former governor of Ondo, who died on December 27, 2023.

Governors present at the meeting were Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Bassey Otu of Cross River, Alex Otti of Abia, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, Peter Mbah of Enugu, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, and Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra.

The deputy governors present were Olayide Adelami of Ondo, Chinyere Ekomaru of Imo, and Monday Onyeme of Delta.

Speaking after the meeting, Sanwo-Olu announced Abiodun and Soludo as the chairman and vice-chairman of the forum, respectively.

A year after the leadership of the opposition Labour Party was separated with the incumbent National Chairman, Julius Abure and the Deputy National Chairman of the party (South), Lamidi Apapa laying claim to the mantle of leadership, both camps have agreed to sheath their swords and work together.

Loyalists from both camps were torn apart in April 2023 following a court judgment restraining Abure and three others from parading themselves as national officers of the party.

But Abure fought back fiercely to retain his seat with the help of the parent body, Nigeria Labour Congress, under the leadership of its National President, Joe Ajaero.

The embattled LP chairman, however, fell out of favour with the NLC following a contentious national convention held in Anambra that returned him and all his loyal members of the National Working Committee to office three months ago.

Despite a series of picketing at LP secretariats nationwide and other threats by the unionists amid calls for an expansive and inclusive convention that should start from the grassroots, Abure did not budge.

The action subsequently compelled the NLC Political Commission to void the new leadership and set up a transition committee, saddled with the task of engaging stakeholders of the party and conducting a fresh convention in 90 days.

A source at the LP national secretariat, who preferred anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, explained that Abure felt the urgent need to close rank with the Lamidi Apapa’s faction following the open revolt and media war from its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi as well as the pressure from the NLC.

“It is the only logical way for him to have a united front against the threat of the NLC in particular. I believe you already know Abure has a long history with Lamidi Apapa and Abayomi Arabambi before now,” the source explained.

When The PUNCH contacted the Apapa’s camp, the factional spokesman, Abayomi Arabambi, confirmed the development.

Arabambi told our reporter that they had no problem with Abure from the outset because they knew he was being influenced and misled by some leading officers of the NLC.

He said, “We are together to stop all those political hawks from taking over our party. We thought they (NLC) were fighting for a just cause. But it is very obvious they only want to take over our party and we are not going to accept that. We in the Lamidi Apapa group are not lawbreakers like those who supported Abure in disobeying the court order. I have said this several times on air.

“It was because of this threat that Abure extended an olive branch for all of us to bond together. It was obvious that these people were not only with him to fight us but to take over the control of the party. So we cannot be outside and allow some people to take over our party. That was why Abure asked us to come together in the party’s interest.

“We are here to fight those people who want to use the Labour Party to foment trouble and destabilize the country. That is what we are against. Nobody is contesting or running for any election now. We know the next race is in 2027. Why should we now be seeking ways to bring the nation down? We are averse to that.”

He added, “I also want you to know that there is nothing like Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign here anymore. It has been dissolved. Everybody has reverted to former governorship and presidential candidate. We don’t want disinformation at the Labour Party.

“Again, you recall that there was a crisis in APC and the PDP. Yet, the warring parties came together and resolved it. So what stopped us from resolving ours? When you are fighting, there is no permanent enemy. It is all about permanent interest.”

Efforts to get Abure to react to the report were unsuccessful.

But the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, also confirmed the reunion, saying there was nothing out of place for Abure to extend olive branches to aggrieved members of the party.

He said, “Labour Party is united. We do not have a division in the sense that as a party that came out of the election hugely successful with a lot of results to show, several people would want to have a stake in the Labour Party. The implication is that a lot of stone-throwing and interest will begin to manifest. But the Labour Party has a constitution and it has a rule completely spelt out.

“Anybody that tries to go out of it will get his hand burnt because the law will not support what you are doing just as the NLC is doing. Besides, we have never seen the Lamidi Apapa people as having their camp because there’s only one camp. That is the one led by Julius Abure.

“Of course, they have the right to be aggrieved and take positions that are not aligned with the interest of the party. But as soon as they discovered it was not the right way, I think they took the better decision to begin to retrace their steps. That is what we have seen.”

He stated further, “Many people who were involved in anti-party activities in the past are beginning to discover that the laws are not on their side. The best thing is to retrace their steps and return to the fold.

“So many other persons have indicated interest in returning to the party. LP does not have any problem with that. Our doors are wide open. If you are out in the cold and you need shelter in the Labour Party, we will bring you back and shelter you.

“The distinguished gentleman you just mentioned (Arabambi) is still our member. He has also recognised Julius Abure as the only national chairman. The party is coming together and I can tell you that the party is a lot more united now than ever.”