By Peter Amine
The National Chairman of Labour Party, Mr Julius Abure and a top member of the party, Mr Yohanna Margif, are at loggerheads on who is the party’s governorship candidate in Plateau.
While Margif said he had not withdrawn his candidature as the “authentic flag bearer of the party in the state”, Abere said thata fresh primaries had produced “Dr Patrick Dakum as the flag bearer of the party in the state”.But Margif said in Jos when he briefed newsmen on the reported conduct of a fresh governorship primaries that produced Dakum that he did not recognise the primary and its outcome.“
To put the records straight, some individuals had approached me requesting that I relinquish the hard earned ticket to them.“But I felt it will be unwise to toy with the party mandate and the peoples trust, hence my refusal to grant their wishes.“Surprisingly, my attention was drawn to a primary election by some political elements.“The elements disguised themselves as members of Labour Party in Plateau and produced Dakum as my replacement”, he alleged.
But Abure insisted that Margif had been expelled from the party in a reaction to Margif claims.He said that the expulsion followed various investigated petitions forwarded to the party’s national headquarters shortly Margif won the initial primary election of the party.“
This party, as a responsible political platform, has called him severally but he declined to show up; the National Working Committee of the party has, therefore, expelled him,” he said.Abure also said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters had been notified of the development.“The substitutionary primaries had since been conducted and Dakum was chosen as the governorship candidate of the party in Plateau”, he said.(NAN)
