Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria says the Labour Party has become a rudderless entity available to be used by politicians who lost out in the bigger political parties.
The human rights activists stated this in an opinion article titled ‘Of PDP, LP And The Fading Opposition’ made available to TheScrutinyNG.
He wrote “On its own part, the Labour Party (LP) was conceived and birthed by the labour unions initially, but it got swallowed by political moneybags and then became a rudderless entity, available to be used by portfolio politicians who lost out in the game of power in the bigger political parties. The LP which was created in 2002 is supposed to be a social democratic political party, being a metamorphosis of the Party for Social Democracy (PSD) before its transformation”.
“The LP is built on the ideology of social democracy and it aims to promote and defend social democratic principles and the ideals for the purpose of achieving social justice, progress and unity. The fortunes of LP took a swelling dimension on May 27, 2022 when former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi joined the party, having lost in his bid to be the presidential candidate of his original party, the PDP”.
“The LP fielded Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential elections and it garnered substantial votes across Nigeria. The LP has since been engulfed in an intractable internal crisis of factions upon factions, which has negatively impacted upon its capacity to play the role of an opposition party. On the one hand, two persons lay claim to being the national chairman of LP, resulting in multiple court cases”.
“On the other hand, the labour coalition, being the parent body of the LP, is seeking to assert control over the party, leading to political turmoil and further factionalization. You cannot completely take away the filthy hands of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the dwindling fortunes of both the PDP and LP”.
” Prominent members, sponsors and political juggernauts of the PDP are neck deep in the affairs of the APC, through which they managed to secure juicy political appointments. Although they are not officially registered as card-carrying members of the APC, they nonetheless canvass for votes and support for the APC. In a trending video, one of them is already campaigning for the return of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027″.
