Tunji Wusu –
Barrister Julius Abure, the National Chairman of the Labour Party, has warned party members to exercise caution in light of evidence to his knowledge that the ruling All Progressives Congress is likely planning for a potential rerun of the 2023 Presidential Election.
He said that the reason for this was that the ruling party is aware that the legal challenge to the results of the Presidential Election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission is still very much in its favor.
During a Monday online meeting with the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy, which is led by Professor Eddie Oparaoji, the chairman of the American Labour Party’s diaspora, Abure made this statement.
In a statement, the Labour Party’s acting national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, cited Abure as urging the party’s more than 10 million members to be “on the alert and get ready to further humiliate APC and its government in the polls if their sinister plot materializes.”
In the words of Abure, “We will be canvassing your support because there are rumors that people in administration are already arranging for a rerun.
“We should also be planning since everyone in government is already preparing for a rerun, so we should not be caught off guard either.
Therefore, if by chance it occurs today that the election is declared invalid, which is not what we are asking for because Peter Obi should be officially recognized as President of Nigeria, we will need your involvement and help in this area.
We are anticipating Peter Obi to be sworn in as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because we are so confident that we won the election based on the statistics and outcome we have. But even if that weren’t the case, since the government is rumored to be planning a second round of voting, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for us to be getting ready for another round of voting.
“Having said that, I must state unequivocally that we have presented the court with all of our evidence and that we sincerely hope the tribunal will rule in our favor.
“And we have strong hopes that the Supreme Court will rule in our favor if this case makes it to the higher court, the Supreme Court. We continue to maintain our optimism and self-assurance.
We were able to alter the political narratives in this nation in just nine months, and now we must build on our achievements to create a stronger party that we can strategically position for Nigeria’s oppressed populace.
In his contribution to the discussion, Ambassador Oseloka Obaze, Director of the ObiDatti Presidential Campaign, urged ObiDatti members in the diaspora to view the fight for reclaiming our mandate as a shared responsibility that cannot be abandoned by anyone for any other reason.
“Great countries of the world are built by the citizens of the country, and I think we have a tremendous amount of human capital in the diaspora,” he remarked. We must be able to gather them, bring them home, and transform Nigeria into a wonderful nation.
“The fight to change this country is not just an event; it is a process, a drawn-out process. The process is continuing. We don’t know how long it will persist, but I believe that the most important thing we can do is to keep working in our various areas; those of you who are in the diaspora should help us in whatever way you can, and those of us who are on the ground will keep fighting.
In his speech titled, “Fostering a purposeful diaspora partnership for a new Nigeria,” Professor Oparaoji, the chairman of the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy, also stated that the group, in collaboration with all Obidients in the diaspora, has the potential to significantly contribute to Nigeria’s development.
He declared, “We can play a significant role in promoting Democratic governance, justice, and socioeconomic advancement in Nigeria through advocacy, human rights promotion, capacity building, investment, support for education and healthcare, diaspora participation, and policy lobbying.
“Our diaspora community can be a catalyst for positive change and help Nigeria achieve its long-term development goal of energizing that new Nigeria of our dreams,” said the diaspora community.
