By Jane Okafor, Abuja
The crisis rocking Labour Party assumed a worsening dimension on Thursday with one of the four factional national chairmen, Callistus Okafor, announcing his exit from the party.
The Daily Crucible reports that before his exit, Okafor, a former National Vice-Chairman of LP had been laying claim to the party leadership. The other other three still laying claim to National Leadership of the LP are the
National Caretaker Committee loyal to Peter Obi; the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Nenadi Usman, embattled Barr. Julius Julius Abure and former Deputy Chairman, Lamidi Apapa.
Okafor announced his exit at a press conference in Abuja, revealing he is taking along with him millions of his supporters.
He lamented that the protracted crisis in buthe LP has remained intractable, compelling him and his supporters to hit the exit door after carefully weighing the situation.
Okafor also wondered how Obi who is aspiring to lead Nigeria but unable to unify the LP, a small community of people, can possibly lead a country of over 200 million population of heterogenous people.
He concluded that the ex – presidential candidate and former governor of Anambra State is in capable of leading Nigeria.
“My team and I had carefully looked at what is happening in the Labour Party, including the crises that have been going on for seven years, and wondered how long it will continue.
“In the last one week, the National Working Committee and the National Executive Council of my faction met separately and took a decision.
“I hereby stand today to announce to Nigerians and all the Labour Party faithful who are under my own faction that we are pulling out today as a team and leaving with our over five million supporters under my control, as a factional national chairman of the Labour Party.
“We are moving from the Labour Party to Team Wazobia Nigeria, a socio-political and non-partisan movement. This crisis has come to a point where it’s no longer healthy in the Labour Party.
” When His Excellency, Peter Obi joined us in 2022, what did he do?
“He supported Abure, who has become his archenemy today. He supported him in everything he did despite the warning by our former National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara, about his several embezzlements of Labour Party money.
“But he never said anything and that partly contributed to his loss at the 2023 election. As they say, charity begins at home. Unfortunately, this is the man the media portrays as a good man who could not keep us in the Labour Party together.
“This is the time for reality. So, if he can’t govern the Labour Party, for me, he can’t govern Nigeria. And that is why I have to leave,” he stated.
Okafor, however, ruled out the option of defecting to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
He said, ” I don’t know whether to say their crisis is worse than that of the Labour Party. You can see their governors and National Assembly members defecting every day into APC.
“What it means is that APC is the appealing party as of today. As of today, Mr President seems to be the only candidate ready even though he has not declared his intention for 2027,” he said.
