NLC to take stand on Moghalu's recognition as Anambra LP candidate
May 21, 2025 by and Tony Akowe, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission (NLCPC) yesterday said it was awaiting the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the chairmanship tussle in the Labour Party (LP).
The commission’s Acting Chairman, Prof. Theophilus Ndubaku, announced this while speaking with The Nation yesterday.
Ndubaku said INEC’s decision would inform the next move by the political commission.
He also said the commission had not received the details on INEC’s recognition of George Moghalu as LP’s candidate in the November 8 Anambra State governorship election.
INEC listed Moghalu among the 16 candidates for the governorship election. This elicited excitement from the Julius Abure-led faction, which conducted the primary that fielded Moghalu as LP’s candidate.
The caretaker committee set up by Abia State Governor Alex Otti and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi had held parallel primaries where a member of the House of Assembly representing Onitsha South II Constituency, Jude Umenajiego, became the governorship candidate.
Ndubaku said: “As law-abiding citizens, we are waiting for the decision of the INEC. After the Supreme Court judgment, we wrote to INEC and the commission informed us that it was studying the judgment.
“So, we are waiting for them. We don’t want to take laws into our hands. It is part of the reason we have not held our NEC meeting.”
Commenting on the recognition of Moghalu as the candidate of LP, he said: “We have not seen the details yet.”
The Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) continues to lay claim to the chairmanship of the party, despite a Supreme Court ruling.
The faction insisted that the judgment did not invalidate the position of Abure as the party’s national chairman.
This has irked some chieftains of the party, including Otti and the NLC leadership, among other members.
The Abure faction yesterday called for the probe of the suspended Leader of the LP Caucus in the House of Representatives, Victor Afam Ogene, for allegedly parading a fake document.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party also threatened to expel the lawmaker and initiate his recall for his misplaced priority and poor performance as a lawmaker elected on LP’s platform.
It threatened to seek legal action against Ogene for allegedly withholding and enriching himself from monetary contributions from Labour Party lawmakers to the party leadership.
According to the statement, Ogene had attempted to “cyber-bully the AG, the police, and the leadership of the Labour Party in what is clearly a political matter”.
But Ogene accused Abure of fighting hard to shift attention from the substantive issues against him.
The embattled lawmaker dismissed allegations of non-performance leveled against him by Ifoh, saying it was up to his constituents to decide on the matter.
