By Magnus Effiong
Leaders of the Labour Party in Cross River State have taken a swipe on some stakeholders of the party for allegedly planning to organise elections to fill non-existing vacancies in the State executive committee when the tenure of the current Committee members was yet to expire.
In a press release made available to our reporter, Wednesday, and signed by the State Chairman of the party, Patriarch Ogar Osim, and Publicity Secretary, Dr Ofem Lekam Ujong, the party leaders posited that the said Stakeholders’ objective is “to deceive gullible members of the public in view of the forth coming elections.”
The release read in part “The Labour Party State Working Committee led by the dully elected State Chairman, Patriarch Ogar Osim is aware that some groups of persons are parading themselves as the leadership of Labour Party in Cross River State.
“Recall that during the general elections last year, this same group impersonated the leadership of LP in the state. They deceived the general public and even went ahead to produced Candidates through an illegal primary they conducted at their office.
“At the end, none of those produced through their primaries were recognized by INEC. They have risen again to deceive more innocent citizens.
“It is necessary to state clearly that there is no vacuum in Labour Party Cross River State as the current Chairman, Patriarch Ogar Osim and his team of Executives were dully elected at a Congress monitored and documented by INEC in March 2022 for a four-year tenure as enshrined in the party’s constitution in article 16 sub section 1
“That article says that All National and State Officers of the Party shall hold office for a period of 4 years per tenure and a maximum of 2 tenures per member for the respective office.” (Please you may confirm this with INEC Cross River State).
“The rumour that the tenure of the National and the State Officers of LP have expired in June 2024 and INEC mandated some persons to convene a NEC meeting to elect a new leadership for the party is laughable as INEC has disassociated itself from the false claim.
“INEC has also rejected the outcome of the illegal Stakeholders meeting and the National Caretaker Committee appointed in Umuahia. Please kindly check INEC website or contact INEC to confirm the authentic officers of the party.
“The authentic National Executive of LP led by Barrister Julius Abure has also publicly disassociated itself from the illegal Stakeholders because it contradicts article 15 sub section 4 of the party’s constitution which states that the National Secretary shall have cause to issue notices of meetings of the National Convention, National Executive Council, the National working Committee in consultation with and approval of the National Chairman.”
Describing the said Stakeholders as ‘Impostors,’ the Labour Party leaders charged the media to uphold the ethics of journalism in terms of objectivity, news balancing and fairness so that the public would not “become victims of illegal and mischievous activities” of the said Stakeholders.
