A chieftain of the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State and a social crusader, Chief Patrick Osagie Eholor, has warned of dire consequences should the leadership of the party deviate from the LP constitution to impose a governorship candidate on the state chapter of the party ahead of its primary election come February, 2024.
Eholor, who spoke on Friday on the heels of an alleged plot by the national leadership of the Labour Party to set aside the party’s constitution in picking the governorship candidate in Edo State, noted that such move will amount to gross violation of the party’s constitution.
The human rights activist also took a swipe at those accusing him of inducement by the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, over his views, even as he challenged such persons to come with evidence of his compromise if there was any.
LEADERSHIP reports that Abure is rumoured to be eying the Edo State governorship seat.
“Anything short of the party’s constitution is illegal and will be resisted. We should be guided by the party’s constitution. I’m also hearing from the grapevine that there is extension of the tenure of state chairman and excos across the state that took place in Asaba, I do not think the Labour Constitution will adhere to that.
“It is better to do what is right than do what is wrong in a hurry and we will regret it, we must ensure that whatever we are doing must be what the Obi-dient people will believe in us that we have changed and different from every other political party in Nigeria and we must abide by the party’s constitution.
“I also hear insinuations that Godwin Obaseki has planted some people in the Labour Party, but I don’t want to believe that because in politics, there is always propaganda. We have a lot of credible aspirants and these are men of character that will not step down for any candidate, they will all want to compete for the ticket. We must do congress and do proper primaries and not behave like the other parties,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Edo State chairman of the Labour Party, Kelly Ogbaloi, when contacted on the development, denied knowledge of any plot to impose or adopt any candidate for the governorship election.
Ogbaloi further added that the party’s leadership led by the national chairman was meeting with the party’s organs in the state in bid to prepare towards the party’s participation in the forthcoming 2024 Edo governorship race.
Speaking on the process to choose a candidate, the LP state chairman stated: “The party is not adopting any candidate. Aspirants will be screened and go through primaries before anyone will come up, and there will be a level playing ground for all.”
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