The newly inaugurated 29-member National Caretaker Committee of the Labour Party (LP), led by former minister Senator Nenadi Usman, has endorsed calls for a boycott of the upcoming local government election in Anambra State. This decision arises from allegations of violations of the Electoral Act by the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC).
Last week, Theo Egbe, the LP spokesperson in Anambra, announced the party’s intention to withdraw from the September 28 local government poll. He pointed to a controversial list of qualified candidates released by ANSIEC, claiming it did not originate from the party. The Labour Party asserts that it did not conduct any primaries to nominate candidates nor submit any names for consideration by the state electoral body.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Usman-led committee expressed its full support for the position of the Labour Party’s Anambra State executives, headed by Chief Ugochukwu Emeh. The statement highlighted the party’s decision to abstain from the local government election due to breaches of both the Electoral Act and the Nigerian Constitution.
The statement read, “The National Leadership of Labour Party is aware and is in total support of the position of Labour Party Anambra State led by Chief Ugochukwu Emeh (Chairman) and Okoli Akirika (Secretary) and other stakeholders that LP is not participating in the proposed Anambra State Local Government Election scheduled to hold on 28/9/24 based on violations of the Electoral Act and Nigerian Constitution.”
Furthermore, the party confirmed that it is currently engaged in legal proceedings concerning the election. It mentioned two active suits: Suit No A/265/2024 (Labour Party vs Anambra State House of Assembly) and Suit No FHC/CV/AWK/223/2024 (Labour Party vs ANSIEC & 14 others), which challenge the procedures for the proposed local government election. The party emphasized that it did not sponsor any candidates for the election in question.
The National Caretaker Committee reiterated that no caretaker committee has been established in any state and affirmed that the Labour Party in Anambra is led by Chief Ugochukwu Emeh and Okoli Akirika for official record purposes.
Efforts to reach LP National Chairman Julius Abure for comments were unsuccessful. Additionally, the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, declined to elaborate on the matter, stating, “Our answer to any question related to the illegal caretaker committee remains the same. We don’t recognize or know them.”
