* dismisses allegations of forgery against party
The Labour Party (LP) National Chairman, Julius Abure, on Tuesday declared that the party has grown capable enough to dislodge the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the coming Edo governorship election.
Addressing newsmen at the party headquarters in Abuja, Abure also dismissed allegations that the party illegally replaced any of its candidates before the last general elections last year.
He noted that other parties have been ruling Edo State where he hails from, and they have been producing poor leadership, which the LP is now poised to change.
According to him: “We need to make it categorically clear that LP has what it takes to win Edo; I have spent 20 years in this party and I have tried to change the status of the party to a major opposition party from a small party.
“We have the opportunity to produce the next governor of Edo state. I am also from Edo, so we will work to produce a credible leader for the state.
“Therefore, having this opportunity of leading this party at this time, we cannot compromise the integrity of the party. I can’t short-change the party, I will remain a worthy credible leader of the party.
“I am assuring the LP that we will conduct credible party primaries with transparency and integrity in Edo; This is very necessary because where a party lacks internal democracy, the best candidate can never emerge.”
Abure stressed that Edo people were desperately looking up to the Labour Party to give them a credible leader and the party will do just that.
The chairman also spoke about numerous challenges haunting the party since the 2023 elections, especially threat to life, but vowed that the leadership would not relent because the struggle for a better country comes with such challenges.
His words: “We have been faced with many challenges since the end of the 2023 election. They have threatened my life and that of other party members since the 2023 elections.
“We are also faced with accusations of forgery and corruption cases and people are being paid to destabilise the party.
“We are, however, not discouraged by these challenges as the struggle for a new Nigeria comes with so many challenges just like what Nelson Mandela, Obafemi Awolowo and others faced.’’
Abure said that there were many people claiming to have been cheated and substituted in elections by the party whereas it was not so.
He listed the case of Mr Splendour Oko-Eze, among others, who alleged that the party substituted their names illegally during elections, adding that there were no such things as the party kept documented evidence of everything that happened.
Besides, the police had investigated some of the cases and cleared the LP and him of any wrongdoing, even as he announced that he had sued some of his accusers to court for defamation.
