Campaign for elections start after the inauguration of incumbent government. That is to say, for a political office holder to convince the electorate, his good deeds must date before his aspiration. Campaigns for coming positions must start long before one aspires to lead. Doing good is a virtue, not everyone has it. The problem with power seekers is that they see positions as avenue for self enrichment rather than opportunities to serve.
The Crux:
Dr Alex Otti was elected by Abian under the platform of Labour Party in a widely embraced outcome. Soon after the election the real him surfaced. What is the real him? He is a member of the elite class. He deals with big men of his cadre and has no business with the below average class. You remember how he left PDP and came to APGA? Instead of identifying with the party at the lower level which is the nucleus of the party, he jumped to the highest (national) level. When he interfaced with the then Abia State Chairman of APGA, he didn't hide his plan to overrun the SWC of APGA in Abia state.
The chairman then Prince Nnanna Ukaegbu said no to his schemes and so he veered off to Victor Ume at the national level. From there he bought over the party and ignored the people that kept the party moving in Abia state before his entry. He took the then state secretary Augustine Ehiemere along with him and they formed a factional SWC of APGA where Ehiemere became state chairman for him. That was the beginning of the death of APGA in Abia. After the election, he lost to PDP not only because PDP outsmarted him in Obingwa but because the party he flew their flag was in disarray and shambles courtesy of him.
The original APGA didn't give him any backing from the election to the litigations. Even when court declared him winner, he lost the chance because the SWC of APGA didn't go with him. After officiating the burial of APGA, he went away in search of another victim parties. In the build up of 2023 election, he found another unsuspecting victim - the Labour Party. He was admitted into the party in Umuahia under the then state chairman Ceekay Igara. When he became governor, he looked down on the party that gave him the chance to ventilate and achieve his ambition. He became the second governor to win election with the flag of Labour Party, after Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state.
Peter Obi was elected governor under APGA. He gave APGA the pedestal it is standing on today. Rochas Okorocha was the second governor elected under APGA but he left along the line and Martin Agbaso couldn't put up with the depletion Okorocha left the party in Imo state. Alex Otti was the third to come close but he had abortion before pregnancy. It could be said that his highheadedness was responsible for his loss in 2015 having been announced by court. His 'divide and rule' style made APGA incongruous as to have a force to drive the litigation then. The original APGA he splited organised a press conference in Umuahia and denounced him. These three past governors had stints in APGA, Peter Obi built APGA after and in honour of Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Rochas Okorocha depleted it and pushed it toward one-state party. Dr Alex Otti amputated its already grown one hand and one leg and left the party with just one leg in Anambra.
The Labour Party shelter:
For the fact that APGA has been shrinked to Anambra party, and given that Peter Obi was seeking presidency, he decided to join a national party - PDP. After failing out of favour with PDP ahead of 2023 general election, Peter Obi identified with LP. From there, he started propagating and championing his presidential ambion. From APC, Alex Otti ran to LP and lo, he won with LP. Before his clinching the governorship ticket in LP, Comrade Ceekay Igara who welcomed him to the party was also the placeholder of the LP governorship ticket in Abia. He did not need any persuasion to relinquish the ticket Dr Alex Otti unknown to him that Alex Otti is not a rewarder of good. The Labour Party offered Alex Otti and Peter Obi the platform to ventilate their aspirations, Alex made it but Peter fell by the way side.
Why would an Alex Otti want to always bite the finger that fed him? If there's any organization or group he must fell out with, it ought not to be Labour Party. The obvious truth is that Alex Otti is not a party loyalist; he is not a believer in rule of law. If it is not him at helm, he fights to disintegrate the structure and usher in a 'divide and rule' system. How on earth can I explain to my children that Alex Otti met me in APGA and destroyed the party we held with pride, a party that offered me ticket to State House of Assembly in 2011. How can I explain to my grandchildren that an Alex Otti again met me in to LP and is doing everything possible to destroy the party through which he realized his governorship goal? - a party that appointed me her State Publicity Secretary.
The impunity:
Upon assumption in office, Alex Otti started dealing blows to the party. He started with the man that held ticket for him - Ceekay Igara. He moved to the man that stamped the ticket for him- Julius Abure. He doesn't fund the Labour Party, he doesn't pay the officers of the party in the secretariat. He started this crises in the party because he wants to control the party.
He doesn't belong unless he takes charge. Can he be governor and national chairman at the same time? How can an Alex Otti who is just two (2) years old in the party seek to remove all the people that were there before him? If it not elitist mentality, what would make him think he can overthrow a structure that dates older than his political ambition. It is ridiculous when I heard Dr Alex Otti in one of his media briefings say that he had offered Barr Julius Abure the chairmanship of BOT of the party.
And I ask, who is Alex Otti in Labour Party to arrogate himself a thin god of LP to the extent of determining who gets what in the party, when and how? For Peter's sake, Julius Abure is a rooted LP member, having served as National secretary, acting National Chairman and now National Chairman. After the 2023 Election, Julius Abure was approached and offered money in hard currency to just make a congratulatory speech for BAT, but he rejected the seductive offer. Suffice to say that if he had done that as the National Chairman of major opposition, it would have been the end of the road for Peter Obi.
Instead, he followed up as a star witness all through the court processes. In a twist of things instead, Alex Otti and co (including Charles Awuzie) started pedaling rumours that Barr Abure had been bought over by APC to sell the party out. This is not only from the pit of hell, but malicious and damaging. Alex Otti is having this inordinate superiority complex in the party when there have been people like Senator Ovie Omo-Agege elected under Labour Party in Delta state, Olusegun Mimiko elected governor of Ondo State under LP too.
The Greatest Victim of this Crises:
Peter Obi is certainly the greatest victim of this crises, unknown to him though. I don't think he is aware of the extent of damage he has brought to himself with his inaction in the lingered crises. Why do I say this? Alex Otti cajoled Peter Obi into believing that if Abure remains as the national chairman, there may be limitations of his presidential spread to the North. That was why they brought Senator Nenadi Usman, a former Minister of Finance from Plateau state. According to Alex, she will help them transverse through the North as a former senator and former minister. He was right with that permutation but it must follow a process and forstered on goodwill.
The crises of LP is an invention and creation of Dr Alex Otti. He was the chairman of the convention in Nnewi and he was also the co-financier alongside Peter Obi. But because Abure was reelected, he revolted. He, as a result, hosted a stakeholders meeting in Umuahia and formed a National Caretaker Committee led by Esther Nenadi Usman.
The Court:
Julius Abure sued INEC to give him the code for the party to use and upload their candidate in INEC's portal for the Ondo governorship election. It was the mischief of the agitators that made the duo of Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwokocha to join a suit that they were not parties to. The suit was against INEC but senators Nenadi and Darlington came in to it by a joi der. When they joined at the directive of Alex Otti, they introduced another angle to the suit which borders on leadership of the party. At that and disappointingly, the trial court said Abure is national chairman. They went to appeal, Appeal court upheld the trial court's judgement. They went to Supreme Court.
The apex Court said, THE ISSUES OF LEADERSHIP OF POLITICAL PARTIES ARE INTERNAL AFFAIRS, THAT NO COURT HAS JURISDICTION TO ADJUDICATE SUCH ISSUES. The Apex Court being the last arbitar, had by that ruling upheld the sanctity of the temple of justice. They invariably returned the powers to determine leadership to the party themselves. At that, the highest decision-making body of the party is the Convention. Therefore, the election of Julius Abure in the Nnewi convention remains valid and operative with the name of Julius Abure still in ink and paper of INEC.
The Problem with Peter Obi:
I have come to understand Peter Obi as a very high profile gentleman. His good governance in Anambra ranks best in the comity of states in Nigeria. He is a proven frugal personality. He is a fair and just person, not given to recklessness and misappropriation. However, in all of these LP crises, his imperfection was made manifest. He has often washed the hands of Pontius Pilate in this saga but that doesn't exonerate him from blames.
Good men who keep quiet in crises are guilty of fanning the flame of the crises. If I were Peter Obi, I would have advised Alex Otti to come down from his high horse and embrace peace. Peter Obi should know that where two are fighting, a third person should be a peacemaker. In the instant case, instead of Peter Obi being a peacemaker, he took side with Alex Otti and that will tell bad on his 2027 aspiration if care is not taken.
They are now trying and angling to move to another party (probably SDP). The position of the Party in Abia and Nigeria is that LP is not entering into coalition with any group, we are LABOUR party. They are free to leave and of course are already at the verge of leaving. El Rufai decamped to SDP and he was accompanied by Nenadi Usman who is infamous for the role of devil's advocate in the Labour party crises.
Alas, Alex Otti has been suspended, yet he is still holding on to the straw. There is no gainsaying he is comparatively doing well in Abia but his loggerhead with the party that brought him to power is casting doubts on his good services. As a matter of fact, a tenant can't eject the owner of the house. Alex Otti should tow part of peace, there is still olive branch available for him. Who we really are shows up between extending olive branch and waiting to see if it is received. Abure and his team has shown who they really are in this regard. Only time will vindicate him.
Labour party, forward ever.....
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