The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Pastor Obiora Ifoh, has explained how the late immediate past Chairman of the Labour Party, 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).
Obiora, in an exclusive interview with Tribune Online, stated that in Salami’s bid to save the Labour Party from being deregistered along with other parties that fell short of its requirement for registration, the former leader bought into the idea.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had axed political parties for their ineffective participation in politics and failure to meet the requirements of their registration.
Obiora in a text message to our correspondent said the Consent Judgement being flaunted by the Nigerian Labour Congress (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 cannot be binding on the Labour Party.
“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,” Pastor Ifoh told Tribune Online.
Explaining the expediency that gave birth to the consent document to keep the Labour Party afloat, Obiora said “Our former National Chairman AA 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.
When asked about the content of the consent judgment, Obiora stated further that the consent Judgment demanded 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.
He said, “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 READ: NLC proposed caretaker committee, nullity — Labour Party
“Also, the position of the Deputy National Chairman has been preserved for the NLC,” he added.
He continued 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 Obiora stated.
According to the Labour Party Constitution as amended in 2019, Article 9 1 states that the membership of the party is open to all Nigerians.
“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, and youth organizations are automatic members if they meet their membership obligations of the party.”
It continued in Article 9 (3)ii, thus: “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.
In view of this, Obiora 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, not the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in line with the laid down rules.
“The major essence of a political party was to seek power and utilize it for the common good and not to grab power and put it in their wardrobe,” the National Secretary said.
Checks by our correspondent showed that there were two consent judgments in 2018.
The first consent judgement 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 Tribune Online learnt that the terms of the settlement agreement were renegotiated and consummated on the 27th June 2022 between the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Labour Party following the intervention of the INEC.
This agreement, according to the National Treasurer of the Labour Party, remains binding on the leadership of the Labour Party and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)
The document was 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, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja signed as Permanent Secretary of the NLC.
Opara said the subsisting terms of the settlement have 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 anonymity, said he is happy to hear that the Abure-led Labour Party has resorted to documents to speak on the present leadership controversy.
He said the document when properly aligned speaks for themselves. According to him, “Barr. Julius Abure as National Chairman and Alhaji Umar Farouk as National Secretary signed the settlement mediation agreement on 26th April, 2022, midwifed by INEC. So what I think is immaterial because the documents speak 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.