Ahead of tomorrow’s presidential election, state chairmen of Labour Party (LP) have alleged that members in the North are being neglected by the presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the running of campaign and mobilisation activities.
They said Obi failed to recognise the important role of the 36 state chapter leadership, choosing rather to work with cronies and support groups. At a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, Gombe State LP chairman and coordinating chairman for the 36 states, Sani Abdulsalam, said such tendencies could affect the party’s performance at the polls.
Accompanied by Mohammed Alkali (national vice chairman, Northeast), Ibrahim Bukar (Yobe State chairman) and others, Abdulsalam alleged that money meant for mobilisation of poll agents was withheld by the national leadership.
He hinted that money expected to be channeled to polling unit agents, through state chairmen or national officers, has not materialised, even as he stressed the necessity of agents to winning elections. He also accused Obi of insensitivity and high-handedness.
Abdulsalam said: “I speak on behalf of 36 state chairmen of our party, in my capacity as the coordinating chairman. The party leadership has never respected us and our presidential candidate has no respect for our party executives at state levels because Peter Obi deliberately mismanaged our goodwill with the imposition of his members and other support groups that decamped with him in May 2022 to our party.
“Of note was the meeting we had with the national chairman at the party’s head office, where discussion was held about logistics support for state chapters and national officers, towards effective mobilization of our members for the Presidential and National Assembly election.
“To our surprise, the national chairman said the presidential candidate has no confidence in all the 36 state chapter leadership but would rather choose to work with cronies and support groups that came with him.
“The greatest shock from the national chairman was that money for agents will not be sent to any state chairman or national officers, except three National Working Committee (NWC) members, including a woman. And that all state chairmen and 19 other members, already picked by Peter Obi himself, will be given money meant for party agents.
“No alert has been received by any state chairmen, and information reaching us confirm that money was paid based on ethnic and religious considerations, because only persons of a particular ethnic group currently run the campaign of Mr. Peter Obi, in cohort with the national chairman.
“As members of the Labour Party National Executive and NWC, it is our considered opinion and informed conclusion that Peter Obi cannot win this election, since all party executives have been sidelined. He is not ready and is grossly ill-prepared for the presidential race.”
