National chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure has said the party is ready to reconcile with the 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti and other stakeholders.
The national publicity secretary of Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement, said the Abure stated this on the sidelines of a meeting between Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and political parties at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to the statement, Abure insisted that the misunderstanding has been exaggerated and must be seen as a family affair which must be resolved amicably.
On his relationship with Obi and Otti concerning their involvement in the crisis in the party, Abure said, “I am sure that very soon, all our differences will be put aside, and we will again speak authoritatively with one voice and come out stronger and very effective in the political space.
“There is no political party without some differences, it is a game of interests and there will always be conflicting interests in every political environment. I believe we will come out better and stronger. Now we have seen our strengths, we have also seen our weaknesses and I am sure that all of these, put together, will reshape the party and make the party to be better and we will perform better in future elections.”
Abure also appreciated both the High Court and Court of Appeal for their judgements which favoured the Labour Party. He however vowed that under his watch, the party will reconcile all aggrieved members of the party and reposition the party for future elections.
According to him, “Let me first appreciate the Appeal Court for doing justice, for looking at the whole matter and resolving it in our favour which ordinarily is in line with the law of the land, the constitution of Nigeria, the electoral law and the party constitution. So we want to appreciate the Court of Appeal judges.
We also want to appreciate the High Court judges who had earlier delivered judgement in favour of the leadership of the party.
“I want to say essentially, that the squabbles within the party ought to be a family affair and that is how I see it. For me, there are no hard feelings. Like I said before, all those who may have one grievance or the other against the leadership of the party, it is an opportunity for all of us to come together, reconcile our differences and chart a way forward for our party.
“For me, I am open for reconciliation and the party will apply every measure to bring everybody within the party for us to discuss and chart a way forward for the party. I believe the interest of Nigeria and the interest of the party supersede every other interest. So it is my appeal for every aggrieved member of the party to come back for the interest of the party and for the interest of Nigeria,” he said.
