Barrister Abure Chairman Labour Party Nigeria Delivers Blistering Rebuke Of Failed Governance In Nigeria, At A Global Virtual Conference.
CONVENER: The Nigerian American Coalition For Justice And Democracy (NACJD)
TOPIC: The Imperative Of USA Labour Party – OBI-DATTI Support Groups Partnership
December 3, 2022
ATTENDANCE:
Barr. Julius Abure – Chairman, Labour Party Nigeria
Dr. Yinusa Tanko – Chief Spokesperson, Presidential Campaign Council
Prof. Edward Oparaoji – Nigerian Labor Party, USA, Chairman
Hon. Divine Chike – Chairman, Labour Party Diaspora
Pastor Emmanuel Uba, Nigerian Labor Party, USA, CC Member
Barr. (Mrs.) Helen Mbakwe, Vice Chairman, NACJD
Arc. Chijike Ndukwu, NACJD – Secretary
Engr. Kings Umege
For Attendance Roll – See Attendance Log
MODERATORS:
Engr. Kings Umege
Arc. Chijike Ndukwu
OPENING:
Opening prayer was conducted by Pastor Emmanuel Uba.
DISCUSSION:
In his opening remarks, Barr. Abure welcomed all members who were participating in the meeting and thanked them for their commitment and effort towards the growth and development of the party and towards the struggle to take back the country and hand it over to Nigerians. He stated that the movement is energized and seriously supported by Diasporans. That inasmuch as we appreciate the Diasporans’ support, he wanted to state clearly that it is also a patriotic duty at this point of our history. That it is pertinent that every right thinking Nigerian should be involved in the struggle to take back Nigeria and to recover the country from those who have held it captive over the years..That it is very clear to us that the country is not working, it is in disarray and faced with several challenges ranging from insecurity, unemployment and hunger.
Barr. Abure stated that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sec. 17 is very clear on the fact that the principal purpose of government shall be the provision of security and welfare of the citizens of the country. That today, Nigerians are not asking for their welfare, they are only saying secure our lives, protect lives and property. But unfortunately the government cannot even provide this basic minimum right. That insecurity is ravaging the country. He said “the economy is not working. Inflation as we speak today is 20.8% – double digit inflation.
“Recently the Bureau of Public Enterprises came out with very scary figures stating that out of the 230 million Nigerians, 130 million are living below the poverty line. The country is apparently at a standstill. These challenges the country is going through as a result of poor and clueless leadership, leadership that is selfish, self centered and have no ideas of how to harness our human resources, our natural resources and reposition it for the greatness and service delivery to the people and therefore it is our belief that as of today the Labour Party is positioned to change this narrative. Since 1999 we have had PDP and APC. By 2015 we thought that the APC government’s promise of change will be able to deliver the desired change, instead the government became worse. We strongly believe that the Labour Party has the ideology, philosophy, programs and personnel to change the political and economic narrative of Nigeria and reposition for it for greater and effective service delivery. It is our view that if you have tried a product for four years and the product is not serving its purpose, it is imperative that you have to change that product. We have tried PDP, tried APC and we have seen the result as hunger, unemployment, insecurity, poverty and leading to the disunity of the country. Therefore it is imperative and incumbent on us to make the necessary changes by changing the bad product that is killing Nigerians and destroying the country. The opportunity we have right now is to be able to change the government next year and enthrone a government that will work for the country and that is what we are offering Nigerians that we have the product and programs to change the political narrative of Nigeria. Luckily we have a Presidential candidate and other candidates of the party who have the pedigree, capacity and competence, health, age and everything that is needed to be able to drive the process of change and development of Nigeria. Today I must say clearly that Peter Obi is the best qualified candidates all the presidential candidates that are running for office.
People have confronted me on the issue of the party’s manifesto and I have responded to them that in 2015, APC had a very beautiful and well written manifesto. In 1999, PDP had a very beautiful manifesto. But in 2023 it is not only about manifesto, but we must state clearly that it is your character, pedigree and what you have done before that must be taken into consideration. Nigerians must evaluate past performance. When they were Governor of Lagos State, what did they do? When they were Vice President of Nigeria, what did they do with the country? What was done with the issue of Privatization? Peter Obi was Governor of Anambra State. Of all their performances, Peter Obi stands out in terms of his performance in his private and business life. It is because of his pedigree, outstanding character that has led to a situation where it has become an organic movement in Nigeria. The people indeed want change. For us in Labour Party we are determined and ready to provide leadership for that change. Today the party is being attacked from all angles. In Kaduna, a few days back, a woman leader of our party was assassinated and her husband shot three times. He is currently still receiving treatment.
Our bill boards across the country are being pulled down. In Edo State for instance, three days ago, all the bill boards belonging to candidates of our party have been pulled down. Drivers, Okada riders and cyclists are being fought and beaten on the streets for displaying Labour Party stickers and logo on their vehicles and tricyclists. In Lagos, Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom States, a lot of our supporters are being attacked. They want to suppress and kill the Obidients Movement. But I want to state clearly that neither man, nor woman can stop an idea whose time has come. The time for the liberation of Nigeria has come; No amount of guns, intimidation, harassment, denial of public facilities to our youths for rallies will not stop this idea whose time has come. The Bible tells us that no man who puts his hand on the plough looks back. For us in Labour Party, we have put our hands on the plough and we will not look back. We will continue to provide leadership. We will continue to struggle for the emancipation of the people and by the grace of God, I have that implicit confidence that come next year, we will be able to change this government and enthrone a Labour Party government that will work for the people, serve the people that will provide leadership by example, leadership that cares, leadership that is trusted and leadership that is dependable and compassionate to the people, leadership that will not take the money of the people and stash it away outside the country for a leader and his people.
Today, a lot of people have tried to bring in tribal sentiments to the struggle for the emancipation of people of Nigeria. I want to say clearly that what is happening in Nigeria is not about tribe or religion. Over the past few years the ruling oligarchy in the country has been using all forms of devices to continue to impoverish the people and keep the people in hunger and unemployed. They used tribalism, ethnicity and religion to continue to divide us and remain in power. They tried to introduce religious sentiments into the struggle. But today in the North and South, many people have keyed into this project supporting Peter Obi. In 2015 when the APC came into office, the number of out of school children in the North was about 7 million. Today where a Northerner is in power, the number of out of school children has grown to over 15 million. Poverty is more in the North.
In 2015, the insecurity in the North was restricted to one or two states, but today, all over the Northern region, including Katsina where the President is from, insecurity has taken over the State completely. In Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Yobe, Adamawa are bedeviled by high level insecurity. The point I am trying to make is that, it is not about tribe or religion. It is about the growth and development. It is about the growth of the economy. Our own future is is at stake here and I want all Nigerians to know that it is not about tribe but who has the capacity and competence to be able to harness our huge human and natural resources for greatness and repositioning the country for effective service delivery so that Nigeria can work for Nigerians. Today Nigeria is not working for Nigerians. Today a lot of Nigerians are not proud to say they are Nigerians. The reason for this is because of poor, clueless government, bad leadership that has led us over the years. This is the narrative that the Labour Party and its presidential candidate is determined to change. For instance, Diasporans have no right to vote even in this modern era of technological advancement. I want to assure you that one of the first things Labour Party will do when we are in power is to make sure that in the next election after 2024, Diasporans will have a right to vote and be voted for.
In conclusion, even though we have some challenges, there are many programs that we want to carry out that we have been unable to due to lack of funds. For instance moving from State to State and galvanizing our unions. However I wish to appreciate the support those of you in the Diaspora have been providing. That notwithstanding we will continue to ask for your support for this movement to ensure that come next year Peter Obi will emerge our next President.”
Dr. Yinusa Tanko spoke next. He thanked the party leadership in attendance and all who called in. He stated that “this is the beginning of December and that by now we should be able to get together all our members who will help us in defending our votes. He said given the challenges they have been having with funding, they have been getting a lot of support from our support groups; that a support group called Violent Space donated N1,000,000 to help carry out one of their programs. He said “we appreciated these support. Having noticed that we have 176,856 polling units in the country we must be able to fill all those units with two agents and the minimum we can give to each agent is N5,000.The important part is that when in 2019 the presidential candidate of the APC won the election with 15 million votes, the total registered voters then was 83 million people, Atiku Abubakar came second with 11 million people and people like my humble self who ran for election too were given the opportunity to share 3 million votes on the other side of the divide. Today the total number of registered voters is 96 0r 94 million as the case may be. Meaning there is an increase in registered voters but the in 2019 the total number of people that voted was just 33 million compared to now. In our rough calculation we want to mobilize all of those polling units to some of our canvassers and mobilize members to get us votes. In our simple calculation, each polling unit has 500 voters so if we can gather registered members of about 200 or at least 150 of each of those units, that means our President will be elected with at least 25 million or close to 30 million votes. That means it will be almost double of what Buhari got in 2019.
“At this point in the 19 States of the North they have 93,000 polling units, I visited my own ward on November 28, (I am registered in Abuja, Unit 4) in Kura L.G.A., Kano State. The people are so tired and disenchanted with the APC and PDP but the truth is that we have not been able to connect with them at the grassroots. I am glad that Barr. Abure alluded to the fact that we need to galvanize all the Union members, remember the TUC and the NLC have been the owners of the Labour Party and they have been trying so hard. The challenge we are having is building these units at the ward level. Please I challenge you to go back home build these structures in your wards. If you can’t, send someone, raise the flag of the Labour Party in your ward. This is the real deal. Give them flags of the Labour Party, register their numbers and get their names across to the Labour Party. As we speak now, we have been able to gather a large list that we have been sharing with our National Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk because you and I are not going to be on the ballot paper. It is our candidate and the Labour Party that will be on the ballot paper. So anything we do either the Presidential Campaign Council or support groups, none of us has a right to upload a list of party agents except the party. So every list that is generated must be transferred to the party. The party needs ample time to be able to upload all the registered agents. This will include pictures and they must be card carrying members of the party and resident in the that particular unit so that they can canvass for us, protect our votes and report to us any problem to the party. Anything short of this will be inimical to our bringing in Peter Obi as the President of Nigeria.
Please if you have contributed any money before, now is the time to double your efforts. We need to mobilize, we need to get the numbers on the ground, billboards and T-Shirts. We need campaign materials. This is what the people are are looking for. They are ready for Peter Obi, let us be ready for them.”
Moderator (Engr. Umege):
Stated we are here not only for to talk but to issue action. That given that we have the party leadership on the call, this is a wonderful opportunity to donate to the party to ensure they get to use the to mobilize at the grassroots. That as Dr. Tanko was speaking, someone donated money on the website – NigerianLabourPartyus.com. That there is a donate button on the website for folks who want to donate. The official account number of the Labour Party is posted on the website. He announced there is Trailblazer groups set up on the website to enable members donate funds to the party.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Oparaoji thanked everyone who found time to call in and he thanked the two previous speakers for the grounds they have covered. He stated “the U.S. Chapter of the Labour party is here to say and work alongside the parent body in Nigeria. He said we currently have three stages that have been set being the immediate objectives, short term objectives and the long term objectives. The immediate objectives being to get Obi-Datti to the finish line first.”
He stated it is not enough that we are still far away from the date of the election. “We must not rest on our oars”, he said. “Even though we know we have come a very long way. There isn’t enough sacrifice that we can make that will be more than what Mrs. Victoria Chimtex has made with her life and so many other people in that category and particularly Obidients who are out on the streets every day. These people may be out there with just their shirt and shoes and nothing else, but their passion and desire and determination to see a better Nigeria in their lifetime. if they can make all these sacrifices, some of them with their lives, I don’t think there is any sacrifice any of us in this arena can make that can beat that. Our passion and appeal is to ask everyone of us to think about it when you think that all the sacrifice you can make is to dole out some dollars, you just can please take an additional step and that can give us an advantage. If you decide to take a step back that might be a disadvantage. So let’s have it at the back of our minds that the folks we have back home, the Obidients are putting everything on the line. We are yet to start. I don’t know how all of this is going to end in terms of how much we are going to be able to raise. But I think it is imperative that we all go back into our consciences and realize
that there isn’t any amount of money that we can give that will surpass that of Obidients on the ground so we are appealing to you. If there is anything that you can do tonight, no matter how little, please go through any of those accounts, if you want to donate in Naira. Please let us know about it while we are here and it can make an appreciable progress in raising some funds to help them do whatever they are doing tonight while we continue to engage going forward in making sure we have all of us get engaged in attracting our comrades, friends and well wishers to help us in raising funds to support the very hungry determination of the Obidients and our folks back home.
We started by giving our donation of N2,000,000 which is an amount of money we have pledged to the party and I want to thank all those of our members in the Diaspora who have made this contribution possible. We thank you for that. We will actually be engaging a more robust fundraising and I want to promise the National Chairman and Dr. Tanko that what we have just given here at this point in time is just a few contributions from those who are passionate leaders within our community. We haven’t even started reaching out to the body of citizens who are here in the Diaspora. Please do remember that Mrs. Chimtex died for what we are fighting for now and the only justice we can get for her is to retrieve for her what sent her to her grave.”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
Dr. Jude Iheoma (New Jersey – NACJD):
There has been an issue between the Labour Party and the Support Groups as well as well as as the Presidential Campaign Council. They are not synchronizing. How do we coordinate to ensure they can work in unison to deliver the dividends of our struggle by ensuring that funds raised will get put to use at the grassroots where it is supposed to get to.
Ms. Eunice Irama (Maryland):
Given that getting the polling agents is the most important thing, and given that there are about 50 members online for this call now, if everybody here can donate $250 we can cover the cost of funding the polling agents.
N.D. Ajudua: I have set up my Unit in Delta State. Can we have the Labour Party phone contact where we can have the list of agents forwarded to?
Barr. Abure:
The LP, PCC and Support Groups are working together. We do have meetings with the Campaign Council and Support Group. The major issue is the problem of funding. The Support Groups have been championing the funding. Now they expect the party to provide them support while the party is not in a position to provide them funding yet. How to coordinate the groups is key. As we go towards the election, given that we are working towards the same goal, we will be able to coordinate to deliver in due course.
The Delta State Chairman’s phone number is: 080 3322 5995. Name: Anthony Uziagu
Barr. Abure: 080 5591 2775
Oscar Onyema:
Can the Campaign try to get University students involved in the Campaign given the recent ASUU strike that they have been through?
Dr. Pat Obiefule:
Two critical things are securing and training polling agents for the Polling Units and Grassroots education and mobilization should be given serious consideration.
Barr. Abure:
Appreciated the support so far expressed. He said there are various campaign programs targeting different groups that outline for mobilization of people from various segments including Workers Groups and Campus Outreach. What is delaying implementation of these programs is funding. He said there is still so much work that needs to be done but they are all doable and achievable. That they will be able to cover a lot of grounds to enable the party win the elections.
Stephen Osenwighie:
Asked about problem of lack of voter turnout and how they can donate speakers his group has procured from China. That they need to partner with the party to bring out the votes.
Moderator (Engr Umege): Put out reminder that donations are still being expected and that Zenith Bank Account No: 1225832294 is the official account of the party.
Uzoma Nwachukwu:
What is the LP doing to encourage the building of its Diaspora branches and chapters and whether the issue of Diaspora funding has been resolved?
Barr. Abure:
Acknowledged the need for LP to be more visible, especially with the youths, that they will work harder using platforms like Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to connect more with the youths and promised to always make himself available on social media.
On voter apathy he said that was due to people’s belief that that votes didn’t count but that with electronic submission of results now, that was bound to change. That now people understand they own the process and the candidate and believe votes will count now That this is the fundamental difference between previous elections and now. That many people have come out to collect their PVCs because of LP and Peter Obi and they are constantly engaging people on the need to participate in the process. He called on Diasporans too, to reach out in mobilizing folks back home to reduce voter apathy.
Hon. Chike:
On creating LP Diaspora chapter, Hon. Chike responded that they are creating Chapters and already have chapters in the U.S. which is the convener of this conference. They also have chapters in Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Finland and South Africa and that more are being created.
Prof Oparaoji: 
On Diaspora funding he responded that the current Electoral Act mandates that political parties including LP can receive funds from overseas, but that those funds must be reported to INEC. He however indicated that NACJD is a USA 501(C)(4) organization that raises funds in the USA for projects that promote democratic develop\pment and participation in Nigeria. He concluded that so far LP was in good space with the way it has operated.
Steve Amanze (Warri):
Stated the major challenge they have in Warri is that they are not getting adequate support from from the LP and how do they ensure that the folks they are working with will not sell out at the 11th hour.
Chuma Okeke (Washington DC):
How to transform the passion for Peter Obi movement into a real structure. That LP in Enugu is not functional and how will people in Diaspora be active on the ground close to the election.
Prince Ndubuisi Oparaoji:
Stated that now and not close to the election is the best time for Diasporans to start setting up structures in their wards back home.
Barr. Abure:
On LP Support for support group, Warri, they will need a specific area identified where LP support is needed that he can reach out to the LP contacts in those areas.
On selling out, he stated that the electronic transmission of results, rigging elections at the polling booths is more difficult now. What is key, is having credible agents. So LP is looking at credible support groups, serious candidates from within the party, religious leaders, and professionals to supply them with agents. Above us we must stay back after voting to defend our votes. On LP structure in Enugu, he believes LP has an office there location there and will reach out to the LP Chairman. On how Diasporans can be active, he said the best situation will be for those who can travel, to visit otherwise they should mobilize folks at home from where you are.
Pastor Emmanuel Uba (Arizona):
He encouraged members of the Diaspora to keep up their financial support to encourage the Chairman’s efforts towards fundraising and believes our support for Peter Obi will pan out as he believes Obi’s candidacy has divine backing.
Ikechukwu Maduforo (Maryland):
Re-echoed the need for us to continue to raise funds.
Getsemane Ugochukwu (Maryland):
Expressed concerns regarding insecurity in Nigeria and requested of contacts to send proposals on how to improve the security situation to being a member of a law enforcement and armed forces organization.
Barr. Abure:
Provided his email address for submission of proposals: [email protected]
Z 3 (Los Angeles, CA)(Name not provided):
Expressed concerns on what measures can be taken regarding insecurity on Election Day. How to prepare voters and agents not to feel intimidated or scared in the event of intimidation or violence on Election Day.
Hon. Chike:
Stated that efforts are being made on educating voters and expanding voter education and sensitization.
Barr. Abure:
Responding to issues said a lot is being done by LP on publicizing the party, enlightenment campaign in the rural areas especially in publicizing the party logo at the grassroots level.
CLOSING REMARKS:
Barr. Helen Mbakwe gave the closing remarks. She reaffirmed her belief in Obi’s candidacy and affirmed her continued financial support to the cause. She thanked members for their efforts in the struggle and urged them to step up financial support to ensure victory is attained.
CLOSING:
Closing prayer was said by Pastor .Emmanuel Uba
