By Simeon OSAJIE
The Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has condemned the recent attack on Barr. Julius Abure, National Chairman of by the party, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, describing it as a sponsored assault aimed at ridiculing the party’s leadership.
According to the party, Abure was physically attacked last weekend by Ms. Precious Oruche, popularly known as “Mama P,” a skit-maker and social media content creator, while boarding a Max Air flight to Benin.
The party alleged that the attack, which continued throughout the flight and at the Benin Airport, was orchestrated to humiliate Abure and discredit the party through false allegations circulated online.
Addressing journalists At a press conference in Benin, the state chairman, Rt. Hon. Elizabeth Ativie, the state leadership of the LP dismissed Oruche’s claims that Abure was declared wanted by the police, that his tenure had expired, and that the current leadership had destroyed the party.
The party insisted that Abure had not committed fraud, had been cleared by investigative reports, and remained the legitimate leader following a national convention held in March 2024 in Nnewi, where a new executive was elected for a four-year term.
The State LP chairman further alleged that the party’s crisis was triggered by its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, who it accused of convening an “illegal expanded stakeholders’ meeting” in Umuahia on September 4, 2024, in a failed attempt to oust the National Working Committee.
According to her, “Obi’s desperation to control the party has factionalised it. Despite all the goodwill he received from the leadership, his actions show he lacks the competence, character, and capacity to lead Nigeria.”
Going further, Hon. Ativie maintained that Abure’s leadership had strengthened LP since 2021, recording one state governor, over 40 members of the National Assembly, and several state assembly legislators for the first time in its history.
While accusing Obi of abandoning a unanimous NEC endorsement as the party’s sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the former Edo State House of Assembly Speaker said his “arrogance and self-deification” had weakened his political fortunes.
She emphasized that the party vowed to seek legal redress against Ms. Oruche and her alleged sponsors, stressing that character assassination, assault, and cyberbullying must not be allowed to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
“The Labour Party will not be intimidated or humiliated. The law must protect our democracy, and the sponsors of this attack must be fished out and brought to justice,” Ativie’s statement added.
A passenger in the Max Air flight, Bishop Solomon Oriaifo, condemned Oruche’s attack on Abure, saying that her conduct breached NCCA’s law by also endangering the lives of passengers in the flight.
He asked the relevant authorities to make her face justice in the relevant court of law so as to serve as detergent to others.
Bishop Oriaifo also vowed to petition Max Air flight on why it should allow Oruche to fly with other passengers, going by her conduct before the flight was Air bound.