“That was how dishonesty and betrayal started, not in big lies, but in small secrets” —Amy Tan
By Cosmas Omegoh
Labour Party (LP) Chairman, Julius Abure, last week, pushed the circumference of the crisis brewing in his party to new frontiers.
Abure in what is being interpreted as a unilateral move, created what the party called “Obidient Directorate” in the LP fold.
Abure said the move was intended to net, perhaps document, and then integrate all the members of “Obidient Movement” into the party’s body.
The Obidient Movement, many know, is a collective for the teeming followers of Mr Peter Obi, the LP’s standard bearer in the February 2023 presidential election.
Abure was said to have appointed the trio of Marcel Ngogbechei, Aju Elumelu, and Mariam Ismaila as director, deputy director (Diaspora) and deputy director respectively to man the said directorate.
Then Abure handed the freshly-minted officers the task of formalising the Obidient Directorate and fully integrating its members into the party’s body structure.
But the Abure idea turned out to be provoking to a section of the party. It elicited anger in particular among the generality of the Obidient Movement.
Even Mr Obi, ordinarily believed to be the leader of the party, was allegedly kept in the dark when the decision was taken. From what followed, he knew little or nothing about what went down until the news of what Abure tabled came to the open.
When many members of the party later learnt what Abure was up to, they did not hesitate to show how livid they were. So, they went ahead to scold him and later stated their position.
Leaders of the Obidient Movement, while expressing their angst, insisted that Abure’s action was a clear let down.
Those who read Obi’s mind believed that Abure’s action was laden with sinister motives, wondering why Abure chose to act alone and in the manner he did.
Then to stop Abure in his tracks, both the leadership of the Obidient Movement and Obi himself issued separate statements denouncing his action, insisting that, he, Abure, simply “over-reached” himself.
The Obidient Movement which claimed it has a total of 261 support groups, accused Abure of attempting to usurp the Obidient Movement. The members rejected Abure’s “brazen attempt to co-opt the Obidient Directorate into the LP,” reminding him that “the group predates Obi’s entry into the LP.”
The Obidient Movement reasoned that the ruling APC might have orchestrated the move in order to emasculate it – and ultimately frustrate Obi – perhaps ahead of the coming elections.
Aside Abure’s failure to consult those that matter in the LP ladder, the Obidient Movement’s leadership questioned his choice of persons to lead his proposed directorate, wondering why he ignored to interrogate their integrity before electing to foist them on the group.
Obi himself, in a statement on his X handle last Wednesday, warned that “the Obibient Movement is not a directorate of any particular party,” insisting that any individual or individuals claiming to be leaders of this non-existent directorate are simply not members of the broader Obidient Movement.”
Obi further clarified that “the Obidient Movement operates independently of any political party, and its membership is not limited to any affiliation.”
He then informed that the group’s focus is strictly on “driving positive change and promoting a new Nigeria for all.”
Following the backlash that followed the proposed Obidient Movement Directorate, the LP leadership last Thursday, released a statement through it spokesman, Obiora Ilo, renaming the proposed arm of the party as Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration, sayng its inauguration would hold on June 8, 2024.
Over the past months, LP has witnessed a series of crisis that rocked the party – some of them externally motivated.
At some point, the Lamidi Apapa factor was a potent threat to the party. Apapa fought for the soul of the party not because he needed it, but apparently to use it to torpedo Obi’s drive to realise his presidential ambition.
However, when many thought that the party had begun to get some reprieve, accusations of sleaze involving Abure began to fly. Now, he appears to have found a way around it.
But since rumours of a possible merger of LP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made the rounds, feathers had begun to ruffle.
Even when both the LP and PDP have come out to deny that no merger talks were on the table, the possibility of Obi leaving the party someday soon remains palpable.
Observers closely watching developments in the LP are beginning to see that there is something both Obi and Abure are not telling everyone yet.
Indeed, the current move by Abure to appropriate the Obidient Movement and the backlash that followed had the character of a battle for the soul of the LP.
It is being reasoned that Abure and his lieutenants are trying to strongly re-assert themselves so as to further tighten their grip on the party’s structure.
Some analysts foresee that the LP leadership’s reason for fighting to wrest the Obidient Movement from Obi is a pointer to the fear and fact that all is not really well in the party at the moment, with the crack between Obi and LP seemingly widening the more. Perhaps, that might get wider and bigger for all and sundry to see in the days ahead.
Perhaps, Abure is desperate to ensure that when Obi eventually leaves the LP, he will go empty, leaving behind the Obidient structure he leveraged to a string of stunning successes in the recent past.
Now, given the swift reaction of the Obidients and Obi, their principal, every one watching the trend gets it that Obi’s possible exit might be lurking at the corner, though he has come out to say he is going nowhere.
But when he decides to take the plunge, of course, he will not forfeit the crowd that follows him like butterflies follow nectar. That will not happen without a big fight. The facts on the ground show and suggest that, that will not happen.
Now, the accusation levied by the Obidient Movement that the ruling APC might as well be manipulating things in the LP circle cannot be entirely wished away. For one, those in position to know will tell you that in Nigerian politics, all things are possible. This is because the Nigerian political turf is characterised by interplay of unimaginable intrigues, and sleight of hand.
Now, believe it. For now, the Obi factor springs fear in some persons and some quarters. That is why even when the next general elections are three clear years away, so much attention seem to be focused on the former Anambra State governor.
In the light of the current Abure-Obidents saga, certain questions arise. Could the LP under Abure’s watch be running things at the background at the detriment of Obi? Why did Abure suddenly realise that he now has to have LP by the jugular? And why were the moves being taken by the LP to maintain a grip on a segment of its faithful be made opaque to a critical mass of the party? Why was Obi in particular being sidelined in all of the moves?
While answers to the questions raised keep blowing in the wind, something is about Abure-Obi relationship is not.
Right now, every discerning mind stands to reason that Obi and Abure are not drinking from the same cup. Could Abure then be rocking the boat? Maybe, maybe not!