The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has called on war- ring factions in Labour Party (LP) to find common grounds in order to sustain the party’s new position as a third force in the current national politics. In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in Nigeria noted that there is nothing unusual about a political party having a leadership tussle or any form of disagreement but its ability to close ranks and make compromises in the interest of the party is paramount. Consequently, CNPP urged those involved in the leadership crisis to always remember that no individual’s desire is bigger than party’s interest. According to CNPP, if Labour Party leaders allow external forces to control its internal affairs, the party will be the loser, especially with its new found love with ma- jority of the Nigerian youth population. The group’s statement read in part: “Every political party at one time or the other gets enmeshed in leadership crisis due to conflicts of interests. However, it is the responsibility of the fathers of the party to rise to the occasion and ensure that the fortunes of the party are not adversely affected.”
CNPP further maintained that the over- all interest of a political party must be par- amount at all times as power can only be shared when it is taken. It cited the crisis that rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in buildup to the 2023 general elec- tion, which it said, eventually affected its outing negatively. It said: “In the buildup to the 2023 gen- eral election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had a taste of such internal crisis, which eventually affected its outing in the last general elections very negatively. “In the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the party is currently entangled in its own clash of interests over what cer- tain interests in the party see as arbitrary micro-zoning of elective positions in the 10th National Assembly to individuals. “It is therefore incumbent on a political party’s fathers to weigh options and rise up to the responsibility of cushioning the impact of whatever internal conflicts that may arise without allowing external influ- ences to drive its affairs.
“Obviously, the Labour Party went into the 2023 elections without deliberately healing its internal grievances, which initially led to the setting up of a Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee. “Amid the then budding crisis in the party, Labour Party had constituted two committees; a disciplinary committee to handle Ogun State Executive crisis and an- other tagged the Labour Party Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee (LPSPCRC) to handle every other matter that has to do with “grievances and mis- chief within the party. “It is then very obvious that the cur- rent crisis stems from the inability of the National Executive Committee (NWC) of the party, which constituted the eleven eminent members committee headed by Chief Friday Toyin Ibadin, to resolve the then brewing crisis despite having a single terms of reference ‘to reconcile all aggrieved members with the aim of a com- mon front to win the 2023 general election and Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed be- coming the president and vice president of Nigeria.”
Calling on elders of LP to return the warring parties to the path of reconcili- ation as the current rigid approach to the conflict resolution will most likely tear the party apart, CNPP cautioned against al- lowing the leadership tussle to affect the party’s suit before the Presidential Elec- tion Petition Tribunal. The group said: “It has been observed that both parties in the leadership conflict have turned the petition before the Presi- dential Election Petition Tribunal as their major area of propaganda whereas the pro- vision of the law is clear on withdrawal of such petitions. “The Electoral Act 2022 under ‘With- drawal and Abatement of Petition,’ reads: Section 29. (1) An election petition shall not be withdrawn without leave of the tri- bunal or court. (2) Where the petitioners are more than one, no application for leave to withdraw the election petition shall be made, ‘except with the consent of all the petitioners’. “We therefore advise the warring fac- tions in the ongoing Labour Party lead- ership crisis to pursue common grounds for reconciliation rather than resorting to deployment of propaganda tools, using the election petitions at various election peti- tion tribunals across the country, as baits to gain support.”