Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has dismissed insinuations that the Labour Party is serving as a front for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Otti, who doubles as the national leader of LP, refuted claims of plans to collapse the party’s structures in favour of the APC ahead of the 2027 polls to give the ruling party an easy path to victory.
The insinuations suggest that the plan is to ensure the LP does not field any serious candidates with clout for the elections, particularly the presidential poll.
However, the governor, who fielded questions from journalists at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, dismissed the claims as wishful thinking.
He spoke shortly after participating in the inaugural meeting of the new National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, chaired by Senator Nenadi Usman.
According to Otti, it would be a “big joke” to expect the LP to collapse its structures for another party after working hard to reach its current position.
He stated that both the APC and the LP are independent political parties and must remain so to compete in the democratic space.
“APC will remain a political party, and the Labour Party will remain so too. How will the Labour Party collapse its structure after having its own structure?
“If that is your prayer for us, that the Labour Party will collapse its structure, that will not happen,” the governor said in response to a question.
He commended Usman and 33 other officers for emerging as NWC members.
“I congratulate you for being found worthy to lead the party over the next four years, and we have absolute confidence in you,” he told Usman, a former Minister of Finance.
Asked about the party’s relationship with aggrieved members siding with Julius Abure, the governor extended an olive branch to all, noting that there was no “victor, no vanquished” in the long-fought battle for control of the party.
“There is a winner in all of us. We will keep our doors open to Abure and all others,” Otti added.
He recalled that some of the 25 State chairmen who attended last Tuesday’s national convention, which produced the Usman-led leadership, had previously aligned with Abure but have since reunited with the mainstream and emerged as NWC members.