Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, has said he remains a member of the Labour Party (LP), distancing himself from recent defections by opposition governors to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while stopping short of giving an absolute commitment to the future.
Speaking on Thursday during his monthly media briefing, Otti addressed questions around the leadership crisis within the LP and speculation about his political direction.
“I am still in the Labour Party,” the governor said, adding that while the party remains his platform, “nobody knows tomorrow”.
Otti aligned himself with the faction of the party that maintains that the tenure of Julius Abure, the embattled national chairman, has elapsed. He said the position had been tested in court and upheld.
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“We have maintained that Abure’s tenure has expired, and we went to court, which affirmed that,” he said. “The judgement confirmed that his tenure has expired and advised people to obey court decisions to save the courts from unnecessary troubles.”
The governor said there was no immediate electoral pressure driving any political realignment, noting that the next test would come when elections are formally on the horizon.
“We are not in an election period,” he said. “If an election comes, we will still run under the Labour Party. But nobody knows tomorrow. Today, I am still in the Labour Party.”
Last week, a federal high court in Abuja ruled that the Nenadi Usman-led national caretaker committee is the legitimate leadership of the Labour Party. The court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise that faction.
The rival Abure-led group has since rejected the ruling and announced plans to challenge the judgement on appeal.
