Kennedy Ahanotu, national youth leader of Abure-led LP faction
The Julius Abure faction of the Labour Party (LP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of interfering in the party’s affairs.
Kennedy Ahanotu, national youth leader of the faction, made the allegation during an interview on TVC on Monday.
On Sunday, INEC excluded a candidate of the faction from the August 16 by-elections.
Ahanotu claimed that INEC has been acting against the party since the 2023 general election.
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“INEC is doing hanky panky with Labour Party affairs,” he said.
“And I don’t know — maybe because of the wonders the party performed in 2023 — maybe INEC under Mahmood (Yakubu), because Mahmood, I’m sure, received the shock of his life with the performance of Labour Party in the 2023 general election.
“Maybe because of that, he’s now afraid to let the party field candidates in elections.”
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‘INEC MUST REMAIN NEUTRAL’
He added that INEC should remain impartial and allow the party run its affairs.
“The chairman that has refused to obey the rule of law, the chairman that is trying to be the one to decide that there is crisis in the Labour Party,” Ahanotu said.
“The chairman under whose watch a convention notice was given — the law says 21 days, but Labour Party gave over 100 days’ notice.”
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He also criticised Yakubu for allegedly engaging directly with elected LP candidates rather than the party’s national structure.
“Where on earth do you hear that a national chairman of INEC should be listening to candidates that won election under a political party, where the party has internal mechanisms of resolution?” he said.
“If any candidate or governor or senator has issues with what is happening in the party, they should come to the party, make their case known, and if they are not responded to, they have the right to go to court — not to go to INEC.”
On the ongoing leadership tussle, Ahanotu said the Abure-led faction has complied with the supreme court’s directive to settle the dispute internally.
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He said any grievances over alleged contempt of court should be resolved through legal channels.
“If we on this side have committed contempt by not obeying supreme court judgment, the legal thing to do by anybody — by any lawyer — is it not to go to court for execution?” he asked.
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“Contempt is highly punishable by law. When the highest court of the land says that you are no more and you are still perpetrating yourself — who are you?”
He said senior lawyers have affirmed that the supreme court ruling refers to an internal party issue.
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“All the state chairmen in the country came into the house. All the NWC members came into the house,” he said.
“The only person that refused to come into the house was the governor of Abia state (Alex Otti).”
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‘DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT’
He said the LP remains open to all but will not beg anyone to stay or return.
“Labour Party is open. It’s open entry, open exit. Nobody will force you to come and nobody will force you to leave,” Ahanotu said.
“If the governor comes to Labour Party, it’s his party. If he comes today, the party will welcome him. It’s not the party that will go to a governor.”
He warned against the domination of political parties by elected officials, saying it poses a threat to democracy.
“If we allow that to happen, that is a problem for Nigeria’s democracy,” he added.
“Parties should not be at the beck and call of political office holders. We must not encourage that in a democracy.”
