Anti-Julius Abure protesters, comprising delegates from the Edo State Chapter of the Labour Party stormed the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Monday to officially notifying the party’s leadership of the unanimous ratification of Abure’s suspension from the party by all relevant party organs in the state.
They were also at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to submit similar letter of notification to the electoral umpire.
The delegation who arrived the party headquarters in several buses were however attacked by a handful of thugs suspected to be loyal to the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Abure.
Undeterred, the protesting members of the Labour Party from the Edo State Chapter were seen with placards with inscriptions, demanding Abure’s removal from office.
They chanted “Abure, leave Labour Party Alone”, and distributed the notice of Abure’s suspension at the national secretariat of the party following interventions by combined team of security agents.
At the INEC headquarters, the state Party executives were received by top INEC officials, who commended their peaceful nature and pledged to look into their requests.
Recall that the state chapter of the party suspended Abure for alleged high-handedness and anti-party activities.
A letter of suspension dated May 14, 2024, and another letter of ratification dated May 15, 2024, both of which were ratified at a meeting of the state executive committee on Friday, May 24, 2024, in Benin, stated that the suspension was with immediate effect.
The state executive advised Abure to restrain from holding out or parading himself as a member of the Labour Party in Ward 3, Arue, Uromi in Esan North-East LGA, Edo State.
Recall that the National Transition Committee (NTC) of Labour Party, the highest public engagement body of the party headed by a former chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Statesman Abdulwaheed Omar, had last week hailed the suspension of Barr. Julius Abure from the Labour Party by the ward executive committee of his home ward and the state.
In his earlier commendation in Abuja through the chairman of the NTC’s sub-committee on Media and Publicity, Comrade Tony Akeni, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar said the courageous action led by Abure’s ward chairman, Mr. Thompson Ehiguese, and his ward officers, which has been corroborated and consolidated by the state executive of the state Labour Party under Mr. Kelly Ogbaloi deserves, nothing but applause.
Omar had noted that “As a law-abiding party and process respecting committee, we have been waiting for the documents of the suspension action before putting a statement out.“
He had noted that the National Transition Committee has received the suspension documents “our legal experts have thoroughly analysed them. The infractions adduced in the document of suspension correspond with solid evidences of Abure’s incredible combinations of gross administrative, financial and anti-party misconduct already long in our possession.”
“Having done that due diligence,” the Labour veteran continued, “I wish to assure you that our party in Edo State have done a splendid and legally impeccable job of Abure’s suspension, and could even have gone farther!”, Omar had stated.
