The governor of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti, and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, have written to Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), informing him of the formation of a 29-member caretaker committee tasked with organising the party’s national convention and congresses within a maximum of 180 days.

The September 6, 2024, letter, which was signed by Obi and Otti, also alerted the INEC chairman about the party’s leadership issue.

The names of the 29-member caretaker committee were formally revealed in the letter.

“You will recall that Labour Party had a leadership crisis in recent times culminating in the de-recognition of the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by INEC effective June 2024,” wrote Obi and Otti in their letter, which was sent to the party’s expanded stakeholders’ meeting held in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, on September 4, where the committee was established. This is a follow-up to the June 27, 2022, settlement mediated by INEC.

According to the letter, the settlement was based on Justice Gabriel Kolawole’s consent court ruling on March 20, 2018.

The letter stated that “a major part of the settlement states that an all-inclusive national convention shall be convened not later than one year after signing the terms of settlement, preceded by ward, local government, and state congresses.”

It further stated that the agreement’s implementation was postponed until 2024 by one year due to the 2023 general election.

“By March 2024, the Abure-led NWC organised a convention at Nnewi without first organising ward, local government, and state congresses,” wrote Obi and Otti in their letter. This does not meet the requirements or the spirit of the settlement as mentioned above. Given all of this, the party experienced a leadership void. Similarly, the membership of the National Executive Committee shrank to less than ten people.

In light of the above scenario, the letter stated: “On Wednesday, September 4, 2024, in Umuahia, Abia State, the statutory executives of the party, comprising the governor, deputy governor, and legislators, as well as all surviving members of NEC, the leadership of organised labour, representatives of governorship candidates in the 2023 election and subsequent ones, presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2023 election and other party leaders, met and established a caretaker committe

Additionally, Obi and Otti told the INEC chairman that the stakeholders’ meeting had nominated Senators Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwokocha as the party’s caretaker committee’s chairman and secretary, respectively.

The letter included a list of additional committee members who were important party stakeholders.

Among them were Comrade Chris Uyot, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, and officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

The letter states that Senators Victor Umeh, Neda Imasuen, and Ireti Kingibe represent the Senate, and that Hons. Afam Ogene, Seyi Sowunmi, Sunday Umeha, Donatus Matthew, and Esosa Iyawe represent the House of Representatives.