By Adebayo Folorunsho-Francis
The leadership of the Labour Party has accused, Dr Yunusa Tanko, the campaign spokesman of its presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, of conniving with the Nigeria Labour Congress to hijack the party.
The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.
Ifoh, who faulted Tanko for allegedly making unflattering remarks about the party, stated that he was not mandated to speak on behalf of his principal.
The growing tension between the warring parties heightened on Wednesday when Obi’s campaign team announced that the recent visit of the former Anambra governor to the LP secretariat on Tuesday was a reconciliatory move and not an endorsement as being twisted in a section of the media.
To further buttress their point, Tanko also stressed that his principal also met with the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission in the early hours of Wednesday to seek an end to their conflict with the party.
The media has been awash with news of Obi and his supporters’ visit to the leadership of the party at the national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.
A few hours after his visit, a section of the media labelled the meeting as an open endorsement of the Abure-led NWC, which has been battling the NLC for validation following the contentious national convention that returned the executives to office.
The LP through its spokesman said the activist was blinded by his personal ambition to hijack the party and could not have been speaking for its presidential candidate.
The statement read, “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to numerous media reports in which Dr. Tanko Yunusa has been quoted as speaking for the party’s National Leader, Peter Obi at the illegal, unconstitutional meeting convened by the Political Commission of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
“We have also watched Tanko’s recent media outbursts where he has ferociously attacked the leadership of the party, particularly after the successful national convention, where he had schemed with the NLC with the assurances that he would drive the new leadership of the party. We must state here that he cannot surreptitiously in connivance with the NLC hijack the leadership of the party through the back door.
“Tanko in his usual way of concocting lies also said that Peter Obi had met with the political arm of the NLC and the TUC on Wednesday morning. We have fact-checked and found out that this was another blatant lie by the self-appointed spokesperson of Peter Obi. I must state here clearly that he does not have the permission of Obi to speak on his behalf. The expressions he made at the NLC stakeholders’ meeting and the press release were his personal views.”
Continuing, the party claimed that during his 13-year reign as the national chairman and presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party, Tanko used the position to bargain with the party in government.
It also alleged that even at the state level, the NCP has developed notoriety for using the party to bargain with the federal government.
“As a national chairman, his party could not produce a single councillor all through his time. By the time he came to the Labour Party, cap in hand begging, the leadership of the party decided to rehabilitate him politically. He was appointed as a director of media in the party and subsequently seconded to be the spokesperson of the presidential campaign council which has since been dissolved immediately after the election.
“We would like to warn Tanko Yunusa to stop dropping the name of Peter Obi everywhere he goes and be man enough to stand on his pedigree when attending illegal meetings such as the one conducted by the NLC’s Political Commission.
“We are also calling on the NLC’s Political Commission to wake up from their slumber and stop constituting public nuisance with their so-called Interim Leadership. They must realize that Nigeria is a country with law and that the law does not support their actions. Since they have chosen to dance naked in the market square, we have refused to go low with them. But we only want to assure them that for every action there will certainly be a reaction.”
When our correspondent called for a reaction, a disappointed Tanko frowned at the allegations, saying he wouldn’t want to be seen having a heated debate with the party leadership.
He, however, promised to address the ‘insults’ thrown at him at the appropriate time.
“I don’t want to respond to this now. I believe the insults will be addressed at the right time,” he said.
A political ally of Tanko in the party, who craved anonymity because he had not been authorized to talk, however, stood up for him.
The source dismissed the claims, saying those close to him know he is an activist with a conscience.
He said, “If truly he wasn’t speaking the mind of Peter Obi, he would have debunked it in the last 48 hours. What are we talking about? We all know Obi for that. Let the man speak for himself instead of Abure and Obiora attacking him. Has this same Tanko not been defending the party before?
“For somebody who was a national secretary to Femi Falana and Osagie Obayuwana, a vice presidential candidate to Dele Momodu and later became the presidential candidate of NCP, Tanko has paid his dues. INEC was eventually forced to deregister the party only because they spoke truth to power.
“Tanko also came to the Labour Party long before Abure, Obiora and others who are trying to demonise him now. It is a fact. He has been there with Dan Iwuanyanwu and the late Abdulsalam. Aside from Abdulsalam, these people are still alive. Go and verify. This same Tanko was among the electoral committee that brought Peter Obi to LP in Asaba. You can also verify that.”
