The crisis rocking Labour Party took a new dimension on Thursday as a faction of the party sacked the embattled national chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.
After ejecting Abure, the faction held an emergency National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.
The Deputy National Chairman of the party (South), Mr. Lamidi Apapa, presided over the meeting, saying he was in charge since a court had restrained Abure and three others from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
Court bars Abure from parading self as Labour Party chairman
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The meeting reinstated the Executive Council members from Ogun, Rivers, and Gombe earlier sacked by the Abure-led faction.
During the meeting, Lamidi also reversed the suspension of Eragbe Anslem as the National Youth Leader and Yomi Arabambi as the National Publicity Secretary.
However, in an earlier statement, the embattled Abure said that thugs broke into LP national headquarters and chased away workers.
According to him, a detachment of the Police accompanied the thugs believed to be working for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The invaders who are armed reportedly pulled down the fences, burglaries, doors and window to have access to our Secretariat and in the process sacked workers and party members who were at the secretariat.
“Though, I was out of town but information has it that the agenda of the invaders was to inaugurate an illegitimate executive which has been chosen for them by their sponsors. This incident is coming days after a similar invasion in our Imo state Secretariat which up till now is still being occupied by the agents of the Imo state government.
“Labour Party is only a political party which is contesting for power. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC having conducted election ranked us third, a position we have rejected and have approached the Tribunal to contest. That is our only offence.
“We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his party, the APC to order and also rein then in from using unorthodox means to suffocate political structures in Nigeria.
“A court of competent jurisdiction only yesterday ordered that I, Julius Abure remain the National Chairman, and should not be restrained from performing my duties, it therefore baffles me why the Nigerian Police should allow itself to be used to perpetrate illegalities,” Abure said.
However, when Daily Trust visited the national secretariat of the party, there was no sign of destruction.
A combined detachment of Police and DSS were seen at the entrance of the secretariat.
