Yunusa Tanko, chief spokesperson for the defunct Obi-Datti campaign organisation, says Julius Abure, National Chairman of the Labour Party, didn’t listen to the advice of the Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for an all-inclusive convention.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, he said the crisis rocking the Labour Party could have been prevented if the leadership had taken Obi’s advice.
He furthered that the just-concluded national convention of the party which reelected Abure was not all-inclusive.
“His Excellency, Peter Obi, made concerted efforts in trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to improve.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi) suggested to the national chairman that, because we are bigger now, we need to have a wider consultation:
“(We need to) meet with responsible and interested people such as the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group – young generation people who are interested in seeing Nigeria work. Meet with leaders who have different ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.
“All of these were the suggestions that he (Obi) made. And not only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with the members of the National Assembly.
READ ALSO: ‘I Warned Them, Hour Of Reckoning Is Here’ — Shehu Sani Reacts To Kaduna’s $350m World Bank Loan
“He (Obi) met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and you could improve our situation.
“But of course, you know how politics is. Sometimes, people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink water. So that’s exactly what Peter Obi has done. He has done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we find ourselves in,” he said.
Tanko further stated that while Abure has the right to contest reelection, it is only proper that the right things are done by opening the door for more people to be part of the process.
He said Abure went outside an initial agreement to have an all-inclusive national convention, which ought to start from the ward, local government and state levels before the national level.
The convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State, that returned Abure as the Party’s leader, according to him, did not conform with that agreement and, therefore, was not acceptable to everyone within the party.
Asked if the crisis in the Party could be a problem for Obi in the next election, Tanko said Obi is a brand of his own.
He added that he and other people will always move with him wherever he goes.
The post Abure Didn’t Heed Obi’s Advice For Inclusive Convention — Tanko appeared first on Information Nigeria.
