Reps Caucus Leadership Not By Appointment, LP Lawmakers Reply Abure

The Labour Party (LP) Caucus in the House of Representatives, has described as laughable, naive and misleading, the appointment of another lawmaker as caucus leader by the purportedly embattled former national chairman of the party, Julius Abure.

The Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee of LP had announced the removal of Hon Afam Ogene as LP caucus leader in the House over his alleged involvement in anti-party activities and appointed Hon Ben Etanabene as the new leader of the party in the Green Chamber.

However, the LP Lawmakers insisted that the position of a caucus Leader is not an office based on appointment; rather the Leader is chosen/elected by peers based on their own conviction of his/her leadership qualities and capacity to speak on their behalf in the overall interest of the party and the people they represent.

The caucus leader, Ogene who stated this on Tuesday while responding to several inquiries from the media and other party faithful arising from developments after the Supreme Court pronouncement which purportedly sacked Abure.

“In response to an earlier statement by the caucus which welcomed last Friday’s Supreme Court judgment and indicated willingness to work for the internal peace and progress of the party under the leadership of the National Caretaker Committee NCC, led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, Abure yesterday announced the ‘sacking’ of Hon. Afam Victor Ogene as the caucus leader.

“A 35-member Labour Party caucus in the 10th Assembly of the House of Representatives elected Hon. Afam Victor Ogene as its Leader. Ogene, a ranking member from the 7th Assembly, emerged as the Labour Party leader with 21 votes, after a keenly contested election.

“Although 34 members-elect of the party were present at the voting session, only 31 of them took part in the exercise with the trio of Honourables Okey-Joe Onuakalusi, Obi Aguocha and Professor Lilian Oby Orogbu abstaining, being persons who conducted the exercise.

“So, it’s only the members of the caucus who overwhelmingly elected him, that have the right to remove him as leader, not “an authoritarian power thirsty individual that’s still battling, without much success, to extricate himself from the muddy waters of multiple allegations of malfeasance.

“If Abure’s latest ill-advised tactics is because of the stand of the Caucus lauding the judgement of the Supreme court, which unequivocally declared that Abure’s tenure has long lapsed, then he is way off-mark, because that remains the majority position of LP House of Representatives members – a fact that would be reinforced on Wednesday, April 9, by the number of legislators that will attend the NEC/Stakeholders meeting convened by the Party’s National Leader, Mr. Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti.

“We need to let Abure know, and boldly too, that the Labour Party is a credible organization and not a ponzi scheme, because sadly, everything about his leadership style is all about forgery, money and more money.

“From Ebonyi, to Plateau, Ondo, Edo (where he embarrassed the party through his undignified episodes with the police), it’s all about slush funds and compromise of the integrity of the office of a party national chairman. Even in Anambra last week, the mention of the name Abure, has continued to emit a putrid smell of financial malfeasance,” the caucus added.