The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has called on the newly sworn-in Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to resist political pressure regarding the leadership crisis rocking the party.
Abure made the appeal in a congratulatory letter addressed to the new INEC boss on Friday, hours after his inauguration at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Whilst commending President Bola Tinubu for appointing Amupitan, the embattled LP chairman urged the electoral umpire to remain apolitical and committed to upholding the rule of law in the discharge of his duties.
“I must say that you came prepared to face the challenges and to help secure our fragile democracy. Nigeria craves for an umpire who is apolitical and whose past has testimonies of love for the nation,” Abure stated in the letter.
“Nigerians need a strong-willed umpire who will place the nation first and who will not succumb to cheap blackmail and little tricks by politicians.”
The LP chieftain further appealed to Amupitan to ensure full compliance with existing court judgements recognising his leadership of the Labour Party, as well as to direct the inclusion of the party’s candidates in the forthcoming Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
“As a worker in the temple of justice and one known to have always respected the rule of law, we urge you to revisit this abnormality and restore recognition to the current leadership of the Labour Party, as led by my humble self,” he added.
Abure also praised the immediate past acting INEC Chairman, Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, for “choosing to right the very many wrongs of the past leadership of INEC” and for taking steps to remedy infractions against the Labour Party.
Our correspondent reports that Tinubu had on Wednesday sworn in Amupitan as the new INEC Chairman, charging him to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process and strengthen the commission’s institutional capacity.
Amupitan’s appointment was confirmed by the Senate on October 16 after a rigorous screening session, during which he impressed lawmakers with his grasp of electoral management challenges.
The development comes barely a week after Abure appealed to INEC to release the access code required to upload the Labour Party’s candidates for the forthcoming FCT Area Council polls—a request that the then acting chairman, Agbamuche-Mbu, had promised to review.
