Police Wade into Labour Party’s Crisis

The crisis rocking the Labour Party has taken a fresh dimension with the Nigerian Police inviting the two factional leadership of the party to command headquarters in Abuja on Monday Trouble started in the party when one of the factions convened a special convention last week where it removed the National Chairman, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, and replaced him with Mr. Tayo Omotosho. Omotosho then went to the national headquarters of the party to take over the office when they met a resistance from the incumbent chairman, Abdulsalam. Yesterday the two factions almost clashed again at the party secretariat but for the intervention of the security agents who took over the premises and ordered the warring factions to come to the command headquarters. The National Publicity Secretary, and member of the Omotosho-led faction, Ebere Ifendu told THISDAY yesterday that the police arrested the Abdulsalam based on the report the group submitted against where they alleged that he stole party funds to the tune N1.3 billion. She explained that a report of fraud was initially brought the embattled chairman but that he had refused to give his own side on the case when the party executive demanded for it. Ifendu also said in a statement that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party met to review the allegations and that a disciplinary committee was set up to give fair hearing to all sides. In the statement, Ifendu defended the convention that elected new chairman and nationals officers for the party saying that the Independent National Electoral Commission monitored it having been given the mandatory 21-day notice for the exercise. “Having witnessed the process, INEC immediately recognised the new chairman the following day, though an official letter is still awaited “The case of theft of over N1.3 billion naira has now reached an advanced stage, the police has officially picked up Alhaji A.A Salam and the party is awaiting his prosecution and recovery of the party’s money and properties. “Our party is going through a rare process of restructuring and repositioning. A committee was set up for the initial review of the state of affairs of the party, the report shall be submitted any moment from now and Nigeria shall truly start seeing a new Labour Party that will be the face of the masses and the government in waiting by God’s grace,” she said. “However, while narrating his own version, Abdulsalam said: “They went to the police that I stole party funds while I had earlier reported them to the police for invading the party office and forcibly gained entry into my office. So the police yesterday invited both of us to come and give statement on the allegations and after we have made statements, we were left to go,” he said. On the allegation of misappropriation of party funds, Abdulsalam denied it saying that the police has no right to investigate the use of party funds.