The spokesperson for the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Yinusa Tanko, has claimed that the recent Labour Party convention at Nnewi, Anambra State was unsuccessful.
Tanko hinted that the reason for declaring the convention inconclusive was as an aftermath of the National Chairman, Julius Abure’s failure to heed to Peter Obi’s advise of wider consultation before embarking on the convention.
Speaking on a television programme in Abuja, he said the current crisis rocking the party could have been prevented if the leadership had taken Obi’s advice.
He said, “His Excellency, Peter Obi, made concerted efforts in trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to improve.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi) suggested to the national chairman that, because we are bigger now, we need to have a wider consultation.
“We need to meet with responsible and interested people, such as the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group – young generation people – who are interested in seeing Nigeria work. Meet with leaders who have different ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.”
He continued, “All of these were the suggestions that he (Obi) made. And not only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with the members of the National Assembly.
“He met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba, trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and you could improve our situation.”
Tanko added, “But, of course, you know how politics is. Sometimes, people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink water. So, that’s exactly what Peter Obi has done. He has done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we find ourselves in.”
He stressed that though Abure had the right to contest the national chairmanship position again, “it is only proper that the right things are done by opening the door for more people to be part of the process.
Tanko said Abure went outside an initial agreement to have an all-inclusive national convention, which ought to start from the ward, local government and state levels before the national level.
The Obi-Datti spokesperson said the convention held in Nnewi, which returned Abure as the party’s leader, did not conform to that agreement and, therefore, was not acceptable to most people within the party.
When asked if the crisis in the party could be a problem for Obi in the next election, Tanko said Obi was a brand of his own, adding that he and other people would always move with him wherever he goes.