The Labour Party has revealed its intention to expel its 2023 presidential flagbearer, Mr. Peter Obi, citing allegations of anti-party activities.
This development was made public during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi.
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He disclosed that the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) would soon convene a meeting to propose Obi’s expulsion, which, if approved, would be ratified during the party’s next national convention.
“Secondly, let me make it very clear. We are convening a NEC meeting where he (Peter Obi) will be expelled,” Arabambi stated.
He added that Obi had previously been suspended before allegedly committing further acts that contravened the party’s constitution. Arabambi accused Obi of maintaining loyalty to another political platform while still claiming membership in the Labour Party.
“You know he was on suspension before, before he now went ahead to do the anti-party activities. You don’t go and join a political party and at the same time, you put your leg in another political party. He knows it is so constitutional for him to belong to two political parties at a time. They have been able to deceive him to their side and there he shall remain,” Arabambi said.
According to him, the upcoming NEC meeting will deliberate on Obi’s case and forward its recommendation for expulsion to the party convention, which holds the final authority.
“So, NEC meeting is going to be called shortly where Obi will be recommended for expulsion and that will now be confirmed finally at our convention in line with our constitution and in line with most political party constitution because when you want to expel an individual who is a member of your party but you know that is not doing things in tandem with your constitution, you go to NEC and you will recommend to expel him and now recommend the final expulsion to the convention.”
Arabambi further criticized Obi, accusing him of maintaining ties with another group of political actors he described unfavorably.
“So, Obi will be expelled from our party. He’s no longer a member of our party. It is not within his right to tell us that I’m still a member of the Labour Party and at the same time he will not be hobnobbing, you know, with what we call the yahoo yahoo coalition. We are not going to accept that,” he said.
Peter Obi, who came third in the 2023 presidential race with over 6.1 million votes, is now reportedly aligned with a rival Labour Party faction led by Senator Usman Nenadi. This faction includes Abia State Governor Alex Otti.
In contrast, Arabambi belongs to the faction led by Julius Abure, which retains control over the party’s national secretariat. The Abure-led group had previously suspended Governor Otti along with Senators Ireti Kingibe and Darlington Nwokocha, among others, accusing them of actions deemed detrimental to the party’s unity and constitution.
