BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
As at March last year, the Labour Party only existed largely in name. It was not only moribund as a political party, it represented what the Bible described as a tree just occupying a space without yielding any fruits which of course was good for cutting down to create space for a fruitful tree to be planted.
But before it was realised, a fresh breath of life was blown into it. Within the opposition People’s Democratic Party, the debate was on as to which zone of the country should its presidential candidate come from, North or the South? A committee headed by the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, was set up to lead the party through the vexatious issue. Typically, one thing led to the other and the idea of allowing the Southern Zone of the country to produce the next president since incumbent Muhammadu Buhari from the North would be rounding off his eight year cumulative tenure, failed to cut ice with the powers that be in the PDP.
Governor Ortom and his committee recommended that the position be thrown open. The recommendation elicited instant cold reaction within the party. It was obvious that the popular clamour across the country had not been heeded by the PDP. Not even the agreement its governors in the Southern Zone had with other governors, notably those of the ruling All Progressives Congress was strong enough a point to sway the decision of the party.
That decision turned out to be the catalyst that would lift the Labour Party from its moribund condition and near state of inertia into a formidable force that suddenly transmuted to a national party rubbing shoulder with the ruling party and changing the presidential race from a hitherto two-horse race to three.
Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State and 2019 vice presidential candidate in the party, left the PDP. That was just a few days to the presidential primaries and he joined the Labour Party.
Analysts said then that it was a timely move even though they could not figure out what lies ahead since the “platform was not a viable one.”
They, however, commended his foresight in that once he participated in the PDP presidential primaries, he would not be eligible to participate in another party’s primary as the laws no longer made that possible.
On his departure from the PDP, the teeming youth in the country, who have ‘longed for something relatively new’ among the country’s politicians and are equally yearning for a new and better Nigeria since they believe that those in charge of “our Commonwealth” had grossly failed in all ramifications, moved into the Labour Party with the name Obidients.
Before anyone could say Jack Robinson, the Obidients, deploying the massive power of social media, became a huge movement attracting individuals across the same age brackets and social strata of religion, ethnicity, gender and orientation.
They took over the cyber space and controlled the social media leading to the opponents and more established political parties and politicians referring to them as social media supporters of a party without structure.
True, at a point the Labour Party produced Governor Segunn Mimiko of Ondo State and also gave former NLC President, Adams Oshiomhole the pedestal to climb to the governorship seat of Edo State before he defected to a bigger All Progressives Congress to help him reclaim his stolen mandate. But since Mimiko went back to PDP and Dan Nwanyanwu dumped it for Zenith Labour Party, the LP existed only as a mere carcass.
Obi’s coming in May 2022 and within only eight months, infused life into the moribund party. He easily emerged as the party’s choice at its national convention and presidential primary in Asaba, Delta State, after other aspirants stepped down for him.
The Labour Party originally emerged from the party for the Social Democrats formed in 2004 by the Nigeria Labour Congress. Dan Nwanyanwu was drafted to lead the SDP. He later emerged as the National Chairman of the LP in a well-attended convention.
“The old political war horses never gave us a chance. They believed it was all a flash in the pan. They came up with all sorts of derogatory comments to deter the followers but little did they know that the Obidients are not cash and carry rather a people sincerely seeking for a new Nigeria”
When Obi dumped the PDP a few days before its presidential convention, only few people were in the know where he was headed. But after what he called “wide consultations” because, according to him “the process of achieving a goal is as fundamental as what one would do after,” he settled for the LP.
As one of the 15 presidential aspirants cleared by the PDP, Obi while dumping the party cited “recent developments” which he claimed were in contrast to his personal principles as his reason.
“Since I resigned from the PDP because of issues that are at variance with my persona and principles, I have consulted widely with various parties and personalities to ensure we do not complicate the route to our desired destination.
“For me, the process of achieving our goal is as fundamental as what one will do thereafter,” he explained in a tweet, two days after his defection from the main opposition PDP.
“Therefore, I have chosen a route that I consider to be in line with our aspirations and my mantra of taking the country from consumption to production; and that is the Labour Party which is synonymous with the people, workers, development, production, securing and uniting Nigerians as one family.”
At the Asaba National Convention of the LP on May 30, 2022, other presidential aspirants stepped down for him. Those who stepped down were a former presidential adviser, Pat Utomi; Faduri Joseph and Olubusola Emmanuel-Tella.
They all stepped down for the former governor at the venue to make the former Anambra State governor a lone aspirant. His emergence as the party’s standard bearer was all the party which had been moribund after the eight years of Mimiko needed to experience a new lease of life in an unprecedented manner.
The youth, elderly, men and women clamouring for a new Nigeria and earnestly searching for who will bell the cat joined the party with a movement that has the name Obidients.
That signaled not only a new dawn but something of a bright new vista in Nigeria’s political road map.
According to the spokesman of the LPPCC, Yunusa Tanko, “the old political war horses never gave us a chance. They believed it was all a flash in the pan. They came up with all sorts of derogatory comments to deter the followers but little did they know that the Obidients are not cash and carry rather a people sincerely seeking for a new Nigeria where everyone’s citizenry is respected and regarded.”
Tanko, a proponent of a third force having been in the game for long, disclosed that there had been a serious vacuum in the country’s political life as the politicians have remained the same but found in different political parties.
“Before the coming of Obi in the race and in the Labour Party, politicians have remained the same. All that was prevailing was this politician, after being a governor on the platform of PDP for eight years, would jump into APC to become a senator, vice versa. There was never an ideology. Yes, Obi was in PDP where he was not comfortable with the system. He was like an outsider. That was why he left a few days before the convention. We believed in him and when he left, we had no choice than to embrace him because of what he represents.
“There’s no gainsaying, the LP got a lifeline to turn around and become a major and leading political party in the country recently because of Peter Obi who we all believe in his persona and principles that were his basic reasons for dumping the PDP. Moreover, when till date nobody even from the other political parties and politicians has come up with any sustainable allegations of corruption against him, we feel very comfortable to the fact that the desired New Nigeria can be achieved through our support for him.”
When Obi left the PDP, speculations of which party he was heading to took over the political space. As if predetermined, the news of joining the former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso in the New Nigeria People’s Party as a running mate reigned in the air. But the propagators were disappointed at the end when he came on his Twitter account to announce that he had joined the Labour Party.
In one of the several media interviews with the National Chairman of the NNPP, Rufai Ahmed Alkali after the failure of getting Obi join the party, he described Obi as a very big bird that was flying and everyone was running to take cover for the fear of being harmed if the bird lands on him or her because of its perceived huge frame but eventually, when the bird landed, it could not break a tiny stick.
LP DEFIES ALL LOGIC, POSTULATIONS
Kwankwaso, during his Chatham House presentation, described the Labour Party and Peter Obi as “Andrew’s liver salt” that would not make any mark in the February 25 polls.
Candidates of other political parties and their supporters first discarded him and the LP with a wave of the hand because “his supporters only exist in one room and on social media which does not win elections. He has no structure”
However, the structure less party became a life changing party to many politicians who have lost hope in the country’s polity.
In Kaduna State, a commercial motorcycle rider popularly called “Okada rider” in local parlance won election into the House of Representatives on the platform of the Labour Party, also a football administrator who had contested on the platform of other political parties since 2007 became member-elect on the Labour Party platform.
“The Obi LP tsunami kept politicians on their toes. Those who hitherto had no regards for the electorate retraced their steps. Incumbent governors who lost or managed to win the presidential election in their states began to work extra hard, consulting and meeting with the people”
In Abuja the Federal Capital Territory, Obi’s LP without structure retired the serving senator, son of the soil and candidate of the PDP, Philip Aduda. He lost to the LP candidate, Ireti Kingibe, who also has been contesting since 2003 on the platform of other political parties without making any headway.
Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State had while derogating Obi and the Labour Party said he cannot get 2000 votes in the whole of Kaduna State but the outcome of the February 25 polls proved him wrong.
In the South East, South South, Lagos, North Central, North East and the North West, the Obi tsunami uprooted and retired politicians including incumbents on the one hand and planting and giving life to young politicians angling to give birth to a New Nigeria on the other hand.
The Anambra State governor, Chukwuma Soludo, came out boldly to disparage Obi’s candidacy. The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, joined suit in writing off the chances of the Labour Party making any marks, besides incurring the wrath of the Obidients, are all crying for help and begging for forgiveness. Governor Soludo recently cried out that the Obidients want the LP to take over the state assembly. His fears may have been anchored on the outcome of National Assembly polls where LP candidates won two of the three Senate seats.
In Delta State, an LP candidate, Ngozi Okolie, defeated the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu. It was as if all a candidate needed to do to win an election in the South East was to identify with Peter Obi’s Obidients movement.
The Obi LP tsunami kept politicians on their toes. Those who hitherto had no regards for the electorate retraced their steps. Incumbent governors who lost or managed to win the presidential election in their states began to work extra hard, consulting and meeting with the people. Some paid off the backlog of salaries and pensions owed. Obidients earlier described as social media one room supporters are now the most beautiful brides among politicians.
Obi, a two term governor of Anambra State on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance had all the members of the state house of assembly from the PDP.
He was impeached yet he recovered his mandate through court process. Prior to this, his mandate was stolen by the PDP, he went to court and recovered it after three years. For the eight years in office, he left without any debt whether salary, pension or contract; rather he saved money in billions of Naira and millions of dollars for the state.
Obi is known for some popular mantras he has introduced into the Nigerian political space. They include “moving Nigeria from consumption to production”, “take back your country”, “go and verify,” and “we no dey give shishi”.
These matched the yearnings of the people who have suffered for the past so much even in the midst of plenty and had been praying and hoping that help will certainly come. When Obi appeared on the political scene, they envisaged an end to their sufferings and embraced him. Automatically, the Labour Party became their party.
According to the FCT senator-elect, Ireti Kingibe, when she was given the opportunity to discuss with the LP on the possibility of joining the party and picking the ticket, she was skeptical till it was proven to her that the party was different from other moneybag parties where impunity is the order of the day. Her confidence was built the more when Peter Obi joined and picked the presidential ticket.
The former Director General of Peter Obi Campaign Organization, Doyin Okupe, while defecting from the PDP with Obi, who he had earlier dropped his Presidential ambition for, expressed confidence that the Anambra-born politician was the face of a new Nigeria. He was optimistic that LP would emerge the long desired third force because Peter Obi was accepted nationwide even at the homes of politicians writing him off. He was subsequently proved right by the outcome of the February 25 presidential polls.
