State Chairmen of the Labour Party in the North Central geo-political zone of the country have vowed to continue to give maximum support to the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure in spite of the numerous political challenges he is currently facing.

They also condemned the recent actions of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, who they accused of trying to cause confusion in the party for selfish reasons.

The Nasarawa State Chairman of the Labour Party, Alexander Ombugu, who spoke for the North Central Chairmen, disclosed this while speaking with Journalists on Wednesday in Lafia, the state capital.

According to him, Abure was duly elected during the March 2024 Nnewi national convention of the party, and therefore will continue to get the full support of the North Central chairmen until the expiration of his tenure.

He further revealed that the forum of LP Chairmen in the zone, comprising Abuja, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Plateau stattes had recently payed a solidarity visit to Abure in Abuja to assure him of their continuous support despite his travails.

While emphasising that there is currently no faction in the Labour Party as it is being rumoured, Ombugu also assured the National Working Committee of the party that the North Central Chairmen will continue to stand with the party both in good and challenging times.

He said, “The Labour Party does not have any faction. I am surprised to hear some people saying there is a faction in the party. How is there a faction when we have an elected National Chairman and other executives who are currently occupying their positions?

“Our National Chairman is Julius Abure and he is the only person that we know. Any other person parading himself or herself as the national chairman should be seen as a joker by Nigerians.”

Ombugu further accused the 2023 Presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti of trying to cause disunity among stakeholders of the party, which, if not properly addressed, could affect the chances of the party during the 2027 general election.

He noted that the North Central is the heartbeat of the Labour Party, explaining that the support base of the party was why Peter Obi got massive votes in the zone during the 2023 presidential election.

He, therefore urged Peter Obi and Alex Otti to as a matter of urgency, align themselves with the leadership of the party to enable them discuss their challenges, if any, with the national chairman and the National Working Committee of the party, with a view to addressing the issues.

“You see that we won the presidential election with a landslide here in Nasarawa State. Even Peter Obi benefited from our efforts.

“As of the time we finished our convention at Nnewi, Peter Obi was cooperating very well with us, but since Governor Alex Otti started creating confusion in the party, Obi stopped giving us the needed cooperation. Since then, he has not been working with us as expected.

“However, as a party that loves and cares for its members, we are urging them to change for the better. Labour Party believes in unity of purpose. In the party, everybody is important. We do not discriminate. So, we will be happy if they come forward to the leadership of the party so that their complaints or challenges can be addressed,” Ombugu added.

The Nasarawa State LP Chairman further used the opportunity to appeal to all aggrieved members of the party either at the national, state, local government or ward levels to put aside their differences and settle all the issues amicably in order to ensure victory for the party during the 2027 general elections.