Immediate past national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), the late Abulkadir Salami moved to save the party from being deregistered when he entered into the popular consent judgment flaunted by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), LP national publicity secretary, Pastor Obiora Ifoh has said..
The former LP leader had bought into the idea in the bid to save the party from being deregistered along with other parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that fell short of requirements for registration.
It would be recalled that the commission had axed some parties for their lack of impact in the electoral process and elections.
Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune showed that there were two consent judgments in 2018.
The first consent judgment was struck out while the second was adopted for the cooperation of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Labour party.
The earlier “Terms of Settlement” as it was entitled, dated, 5/2/2018 was struck out and the present one being cited, dated 6/3/18 filed 14/3/2018 was adopted and sanctioned as binding before Justice G.O Kolawole on the 20th March, 2018.
Following this, it was learnt that the terms of the settlement agreement was renegotiated and consummated on the 27th June 2022 between the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Labour Party following the intervention of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The document signed by the extant and embattled national chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure and the National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim for the Labour Party, while former Chairman of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba and Emmanuel Ugboaja signed as permanent secretary of the NLC.
Obiora, in a text message to the Nigerian Tribune, held that the consent judgment being flaunted by the NLC was born out of necessity and remained inferior to the Labour Party Constitution and the Nigerian Constitution.
He maintained that it was a product of political expediency and could not be binding on the LP.
“If Salam didn’t play the ball, LP would have been deregistered along with the other parties which didn’t win at least one seat in any of the assemblies,” Ifoh said.
Explaining the expediency that gave birth to the document to keep the LP afloat, he stated: “Our former national chairman, Salami in 2018 unilaterally agreed to the consent judgment to allow the party to participate in the 2019 election though not binding on the party since it takes both chairman and secretary to co-sign with the party’s official seal to make it binding on the party.
“However, the Nigeria constitution and the electoral law are superior to the judgment which in any case is given based on political expediency. “
“If you may ask, what is the content of the consent judgment? Obiora answered that the consent judgment demanded that “That the Labour Party (LP) should accept that NLC having played a major role in the formation of the party should be acknowledged in the leadership of the party.
Ifoh added: “that has been observed. All leaders of the LP since inception came from the NLC including Abure who was a signatory to the formation of the party as a former National President of the Postal Services workers union.
“Also, the position of the Deputy National Chairman has been preserved for the NLC.
He added that the consent judgment also sought “for an all inclusive convention.” He argued that such qualification must be in line with Article 9 of the constitution of the Labour Party. For one to qualify to attend a convention, you must first of all be a card carrying member of the party. You can claim to be a stakeholder of LP when you are not a member. Despite all our repeated pleas for them to return to their various wards to register, all the NLC members including its President still haven›t registered. Most of them are working for other parties, Pastor Ifoh stated.
According to the Labour Party Constitution as amended 2019, Article 9 1 states that the membership of the party is open to all Nigerian of all leaning..
Article 9(vii) clearly states that Being a Labour Party, all members of the Labour movement, including the Labour Centers, Trade Unions Civil Society Organizations, youth organization, are automatic members and if they meet their membership obligations of the party”
It adds in Article 9 (3)ii says “Every member shall renew his/her membership card every three 3 years by paying the prescribed fee.
“Only members who pay their monthly membership dues at rate prescribed shall be deemed to be bonafide members of the party. Arrears of dues of up to six months shall lead to forfeiture of membership” Article 9(3)iii of the Labour Party Constitution says.
Ifoh said, “So, the judgment has been overtaken by events as the NLC simply refused to do the needful even when we have made an attempt at complying.”
He argued further that the INEC deals with political parties and not the NLC in line with the laid down rules.
The major essence of a party was to seek power and utilize it for the common good and not to grab power and put it in their wardrobe, Ifoh stated.
This agreement national Treasure of the Labour Party said remains binding on the leadership of the Labour Party and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)
Opara said the subsisting terms of settlement has overtaken the document brought out of the Archive by the Labour Party.
She said, if anyone should learn from history, it should be Abure and his NWC members, especially as Abure and Farouk are signatories to the binding document, yet he failed to uphold the terms.
Another chieftain of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, who pleaded for anonymity said he is happy to hear tht the Abure led Labour Party has resorted to documents to speak on the present leadership controversy.
He said the document when properly aligned speak for themselves and said Barr. Julius Abure as National Chairman and Alhaji Umar Farouk as National Secretary signed the settlement mediation agreement on 26th April, 2022, midwifed, by Independent National Electoral Commission. So what I think is immaterial because the documents speaks for itself. The fact speaks for itself,” he stated.
He said any claim that A A Salam signed the document to save the party was false and inconsistent with the status of the Labour Party.
“I am angry that lies are used to build a story the Labour Party was never qualified for de-registration.
Labour Party was never on the list of Parties shortlisted for de-registration never,” he stressed.
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