LP Reps Caucus dismisses appointment of new leader by Abure

Labour Party caucus in the House of Representatives has dismissed the supposed appointment of a new leader for the caucus by the embattled former national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, saying the party was not a Ponzi scheme. 

Leader of the caucus, Afam Victor Ogene described as laughable, naive and misleading, the purported appointment.

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, led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, Abure yesterday announced the ‘sacking’ of Afam Victor Ogene as the caucus leader.

But the Labour Party federal lawmakers said, “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 made this clarification in a statement on Tuesday, in response to several inquiries from the media and other party faithful arising from developments after the Supreme Court pronouncement sacking the LP chairman”.

The statement recalled that on May 6, 2023, 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 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”