Attempt By The Suspended National Chairman Of The Labour Party Julius Abure, to soar up his image by setting up a directorate to register Obidient Movement, has hit the wall.
Abure had rejected to include members of the Obidient Movement into his reconstituted National Working Committee (NWC) in March because, according to him, they were not registered members of Labour Party.
He then created an app for the registration of members of the movement and established a directorate to oversee the registration. Marcel Ngogbehei was last week, appointed to head the new directorate.
But 261 Obidient support groups, in a statement on Sunday, rejected the directorate and accused Abure of plot to usurp its grassroots-driven force.
The statement which was signed by Mubarak Bawa, The Obidient Conveners Collective; Daniel Elomba, Co-convener
Peter Obi Support Network (POSN), and Ekene Nwakuche, Co-convener, Like Minds for Peter Obi (LMPO) among others, the Obidient Movement stated that its existence dates back to 2019, when Peter Obi was running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The movement noted that it gained significant momentum in 2022 when Obi announced his presidential ambitions, adding that the alignment with the Labour Party was solely as a result of Obi’s candidacy and not due to any inherent loyalty to the party itself.
“The Obidient Movement predates Peter Obi’s entry into the Labour Party and is a global force far more potent than the Labour Party, which had not seen electoral success since Olusegun Mimiko’s 2007 governorship win in Ondo,” it explained.
The movement attributed Labour Party’s successes in the last general election, to its contributions, and accused Abure and the party of failing to protect these victories.
“The Labour Party had one job in the 2023 elections: to protect the votes and secure the victory achieved by the Obidients.
“On this simple task, Julius Abure and his party failed spectacularly, failing Peter Obi, failing the millions of Obidients worldwide, and failing Nigeria’s future generations,” the statement asserted.
The Obidient Movement viewed the creation of the directorate and the appointment of individuals without consulting Peter Obi or the core movement, as an insult.
It rejected the appointment of Ngogbehei to head the Obidient Directorate, and said it is a ploy orchestrated by forces with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“This ludicrous scheme, no doubt concocted within the corridors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), whose president and cronies are desperate to undermine Peter Obi’s popularity and the unstoppable force of the Obidient Movement, is doomed to fail.
“Ngogbehei’s attempts to portray himself as ‘the Obidient leader’ are laughable. The Obidient Movement recognises no leader other than Peter Obi.
“We categorically reject the creation of an Obidient Directorate within the Labour Party.
“We explicitly reject the appointment of … Marcel Ngogbehei to any position of authority within the movement.
“We call on Julius Abure to halt this destructive plot and engage in sincere dialogue with the true stakeholders of the Obidient Movement, starting with His Excellency Peter Obi,” urged.
