The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has explained his absence at the recently concluded National Convention of the party held in Nnewi, his native Anambra State.
Speaking at a discussion hosted by Parallel Facts on Saturday on X (formerly Twitter), Obi stated that he is more passionate about building “a new Nigeria” than building a new LP.
He expressed displeasure that the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) ignored his advice to consult more following concerns raised by key stakeholders ahead of the convention.
“We promised to build Nigeria; we did not promise to build a New Labour Party. When the chairman approached me about the convention, I appealed to him to consult all stakeholders, starting from Governor (Alex) Otti, Vice Presidential Candidate (Yusuf) Datti, to Senators, House of Reps members, gubernatorial candidates, and all other groups, for us to have NLC, TUC,” Obi said.
“It is documented for us to have a properly organized convention, starting with congresses, because we have to organize ourselves at the grassroots, where we have problems. It is after we organize ourselves that we can go into the convention,” he added.
Obi also noted that there was supposed to be a stakeholders’ meeting where positions would have been agreed upon to accommodate the various interests that make up the party, but that was not done.
He also explained why he has so far refrained from making public comments on allegations of financial impropriety against Abure.
“It is because we have written to a competent, qualified auditor to audit the accounts of the Labour Party and our campaign,” Obi said.
He insisted that all groups/bodies associated with his campaign must render account of the money received and how it was spent for the campaign.
The former Anambra State governor invoked God’s wrath on those who choose not to render an account of funds collected in his name and that of the campaign, noting that “God will punish them.”
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