The crisis rocking the Labour Party has taken a new twist following the appointment of former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman as caretaker chairman of the party.

Usman’s appointment was announced at an extended stakeholders meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Abia State Government House in Umuahia, Abia State capital on Wednesday.

The meeting was called by Governor Alex Otti.

But the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee has disowned Usman, saying her appointment was illegal and unconstitutional.

In a statement by jts National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party insisted that Abure remained the legitimate national chairman.

It described the meeting in Umuahia as a “charade, a waste of time and resources of Abia People.”

The statement said: “As clearly stated in our previous statement, the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti and all others who have converged in Umuahia have no power within the Party Constitution, the Electoral Act and even within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convene any meeting of the Party.

“The combined reading of the two provision shows clearly that the so called meeting in Umuahia is a charade, a waste of time and resources of Abia People.

“The premise on which Governor Alex Otti called the meeting is not only faulty but mischievous. Government business is not transacted verbally but through official communication and correspondences which are done in writing. As we speak, there is no communication whatsoever from INEC to the Party as regards any objection to the conduct of the National Convention.

“We challenge Alex Otti to produce the official letter addressed to him from INEC on the subject matter. There is no vacuum in the leadership of the party.

“Consequently, the so-called caretaker committee set up by the Governor of Abia State is not known to the constitution of the Party and can best be described as a department in Abia State Government House.

“We are shocked to note that the so-called chairman of the caretaker committee is not a registered member of the Party. She surfaced during the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign to assist Peter Obi in his campaign,” it added. (The Nation)

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