Okonkwo, others’ defection won’t stop 2027 victory – LP

The leadership of the Labour Party has said it was neither losing sleep nor in any form of panic over the recent exit of some chieftains and party bigwigs.

The party also claimed that some of the chieftains leaving its fold were working for the opposition parties to create a semblance of crisis in the LP.

On January 8, 2024, a former Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe, resigned from the party due to what he called ideological differences.

In March, The PUNCH reported that six members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, elected on the platform of LP, formally defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.

On May 18, a lawmaker representing Onicha East constituency at the Ebonyi House of Assembly, Chief Celestine Ogba, switched allegiance to the All Progressives Congress.

Last week, a high-ranking senator representing Imo East Senatorial District, Francis Ezenwa, and the House of Representatives candidate for Abeokuta South Federal Constituency at the 2023 election, Tolulope Philips, also dumped the party for the APC and PDP, respectively.

In a more dramatic twist, the actor-turned-politician and former spokesman for LP Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, announced that he had cut ties with the party and its presidential standard-bearer, Peter Obi.

Amidst all these defections, the National Working Committee of the LP insisted that it had not in any way unsettled the party.

Speaking with The PUNCH in an exclusive interview, the National Legal Adviser of the party, Kehinde Edun, said the exit of some bigwigs had rather opened the way for more notable and committed personalities to come into the party.

He said, “There is no need to lose sleep over it. Things like this happen a lot in politics, especially in Africa. As they (chieftains) are leaving, more people are coming in. In fact, we have more people coming into the party without making noise about it.

“The truth is that some of these people leaving LP are working for opposition parties. What they are trying to do is create a semblance of crisis in our party. That is the situation they want to create so they can have an excuse for leaving the party.

“But as I told you, more people are coming in as some left. When five persons leave, 50 people come in. Our membership strength is getting bigger by the day. All this noise about people leaving us is sponsored to distract us. It is better to lose fats and gain muscle.”

The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, also shared his sentiment when he said they had no doubt the internal strife in the party was being sponsored by external forces.

Ifoh, however, insisted that the party’s national leader was also not giving up on his plan to reconcile all aggrieved members and stakeholders of the party, to have a united front in preparation for the 2027 general election.

“I think some external forces are propelling this distraction and the NLC agitation. That is exactly what Peter Obi is trying to resolve. But I can tell you that Obi’s reconciliatory effort has not collapsed. It is having an effect. You know reconciliation does not happen in a day. It takes time, depending on the people on both sides.

“This in-fighting is happening because LP has already confirmed Obi as our candidate for 2027. It is the handiwork of the APC and PDP. All these fights are against Obi, not the party. They (parties) easily buy some members over to cause a crisis in the Labour Party because they don’t want Peter Obi to emerge as the president.

“That is why we are having all these issues you are seeing. But we are working seriously to hold on to our members and party chieftains,” he said.