By Euclid Myke
A political pressure group, the Alliance for All Labour Party Professionals and Stakeholders (AALPS) has cautioned that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi may face his worst electoral defeat in the 2027 presidential election if he continues to destabilize and unnecessarily factionalizing the party.
The group also called on the leadership of the party to sanction and completely severe any ties with the former Anambra State Governor if he goes ahead to drag the party to the Supreme Court even after the Appeal Court has revalidated the current National Working Committee of the party.
In a statement issued by the National Convener, Dr. Blessing Elaigwu, on Tuesday, the group maintained that the party has stagnated in the last one year due to lack of leadership from Peter Obi and unnecessary litigation which Peter Obi has brought upon the party.
Elaigwu cautioned on the far reaching implication of sustaining the crisis when most other serious political parties are already strategizing ahead of the 2027 general election.
She said: “If Peter Obi thinks that he wants to destroy the party before moving to other political party as it is been said everywhere now that he is negotiating with another political party, and that the game plan is to systematically destroy the Labour Party completely before moving to another party.
“He must have known that, as he is fighting the party he is fighting himself and as he is working to destroy the party in this unfair manner, he is also destroying himself.
“We actually thought that Peter Obi is different from most other traditional politicians. What exactly have Abure and his executive done to deserve this back-stabbing? Obi was frustrated out of the PDP and Abure offered him a platform in the Labour Party. Ask Obi how much he paid to the party for the presidential ticket?
“This is the only presidential candidate of a major political party that could not donate ordinary bicycle to the party for campaign, even up till this moment. He refused to fund the party, yet this same party has even contemplated making him the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, yet he is busy funding crisis in the party.
“What a good leader would have done is, given the momentum of the 2023 presidential election, he should have consolidated the progress made, irrespective of the imperfection that may have been in the party. He was expected to consolidate, strengthen the party and get ready for 2027. Winning election is a game of number, but Obi is busy bringing up strategies to destroy the established structure and reduce the numerical strength of the party.
“We urge Peter Obi to move beyond this point and start working towards consolidating the gains the party made in 2023 before Nigerians completely withdraw their trust in him. This is especially when it is obvious that you didn’t fund the campaign. Nigerians, individuals sponsored the campaign, they put in their resources while some paid with their lives in order to build this movement.”
