*We’re not part of ‘Ibadan declaration’
Alex Otti, governor of Abia, says the Labour Party (LP) did not participate in the national summit of the All Opposition Political Party Leaders in Ibadan, Oyo state, on Saturday.
At the summit, opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), led by David Mark, a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), announced plans to present a single presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja after the LP national working committee (NWC) meeting, chaired by Nenadi Usman, Otti said the party will field a presidential candidate for the upcoming general election.
“Unfortunately, we were not part of the summit. We will hold a convention. So, we are not bound by what happened there [in Ibadan]. We did not attend,” Otti said.
“We are a political party. So if you are a party member and want to run, we will give you a ticket.”
Otti said the party is open to reconciling with aggrieved members, including Julius Abure, the former national chairman.
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“If you followed the convention, we had over 25 state chairmen in attendance, many of whom were previously aligned with Abure,” he said.
“It is part of the charge that we gave the national working committee to reconcile and bring back as many people as possible, and that it is happening.
“We declared that there were no winners and no vanquished. Everybody is a winner, so we are keeping our doors open, even for Abure to return to the party that he had worked for. So, the disagreement is over. We are now reconciling, reintegrating, and strengthening the party.”
The governor said the party has confidence in the Usman-led NWC to lead the party for the next four years.
Otti added that the LP has no plans to collapse its structure into any other party, including the All Progressives Congress (APC).
