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The Labour Party on Wednesday revealed reasons for its failures at the 2023 presidential election.
It attributed its inability to produce the country’s next president after now late, former President Muhammadu Buhari, to failures to harness and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the grassroots structures of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The Interim National Chairman, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, at a one-day strategic multi-level stakeholders’ summit in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that even when the party went to challenge the results of the election in court, it could not prove its case because the party couldn’t use the unions to get Form EC8A at polling units.
“Labour Party is the largest political party in Nigeria,” she said, recalling that in 2023 Labour Party was mocked for not having structures, and said it is because the party failed to utilise the NLC and TUC structures.
“There is no polling unit in this country where you don’t have either a serving worker or a retired worker, we are all over,” she added.
Senator Usman called on party leaders to go back to their wards to mobilise people to register with the party, adding, “No structure can ever be built without a foundation.
“I just want to plead with each and every one of you that when you go back after we must have put our heads together during the technical session, to come up with the ideal way of approaching our members to register.
“Let everybody go back and execute that which we have decided today, so that members of the Labour Party can come out en masse to register and get their cards. We are not saying that we have one method fixed or not.
“We are going to look at the peculiarities of each state and at the end of the day, tailor what is going to be suitable for those states so that at the end of the day, we will be able to stand.”
Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, who was represented by his deputy, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu said Abia State has been able to demonstrate that the Labour Party is not just an electoral platform, but a vehicle for purposeful governance, accountability and people-centred development.
The governor stated that the progress being made in “infrastructural renewal, institutional reforms, physical discipline and service delivery, stands as evidence that our party is capable of translating this very vision to the national level.”
Otti, however, acknowledged that sustainable political success requires internal harmony.
According to him, reuniting the party is about building trust, strengthening structures, deepening communication and ensuring that every stakeholder, from ward level to the national leadership, feels valued and heard.
The governor urged members to begin now to consolidate on the party’s structures, strengthen grassroots mobilisation and membership revalidation, as well as build strategic alliances with progressive minds who share its vision.
He also called for investment in youth and women participation, which he said, will serve “as drivers of electoral success, promote internal democracy, transparency and discipline, and communicate our achievements effectively and consistently to the people.”
Otti said Abia State is a model for the nation to follow, and the Labour Party is the driver of this very progress.
