TheCable

The Labour Party (LP) in Lagos state has suspended six leaders of the party over alleged anti-party activities.

The affected chieftains are Kayode Salako, former chairman, Moshood Salvador, Mutiu Okunola, Theodore Ezeunara, Olumide Adesoyin and Opeyemi Taiwo.

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Sam Okpala, LP secretary in Lagos, said the suspension was sequel to the report of a disciplinary committee set up to investigate the allegations of anti-party activities levelled against the affected leaders.

Okpala said those suspended were found guilty of acts that were detrimental to the progress of the party.

“The Labour Party in Lagos state discovered that there were a lot of anti-party activities committed by people who claimed to be members of the party in Lagos state,” he said.

“Our post-mortem of what really transpired and happened during the general election revealed that a lot of people who called themselves members of the party were indeed working for the opposition.

“With that information, the LP in Lagos state set up a disciplinary committee headed by one of the deputy chairmen of the party to look into these allegations.

“As an obedient party that adheres to the rule of law, the committee gave everyone involved a fair hearing and opportunity to defend themselves and clear their names.

“At the end of the exercise, the report was tendered before the LP state working committee and at the meeting held on March 31, the report of the disciplinary committee was accepted and ratified for implementation.”

Speaking on the crisis at the LP national level, Okpala said the Lagos state chapter would continue to stand with Julius Abure, national chairman of the party and other national officers.

He added that the court order restraining Abure from acting as national chairman was the handiwork of detractors who are planning to stop the party from reclaiming its mandate.

SALAKO’S OUTBURST 

The former chairman, in a Facebook post in March, said Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the party’s flagbearer, ignored elders in the build-up to the March 18 governorship election.

He added that the party’s governorship ticket was given to Rhodes-Vivour “free of charge”.

He said the LP candidate after getting the ticket “started making moves to push him aside”.