The crisis rocking the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has continued unabated as a faction on Sunday ratified the suspension of its chairman, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, over alleged gross misconduct and insubordination.
The decision was taken at an enlarged meeting of the State Working Committee (SWC), which was attended by local government area chairmen and secretaries of the party.
The development comes less than a week after Ativie was sworn in as caretaker chairman of LP in the state by the national leadership of the party, following the expiration of the tenure of the Kelly Ogbaloi-led faction of the Labour Party.
Chairman of the LP in Ativie’s Uhunmwonde LGA, Mr. Aghedo Okhiongbamwonyi, stated that the leadership of her Ward 4 had handed out the suspension.
Reacting, Ativie asserted that she remains the authentic state chairman of the party and was not aware of any meeting suspending her.
“They should know that, by the constitution of the Labour Party, no ward or local government chairman has the authority to suspend anybody or the chairman. It is dead on arrival. I am the current state Labour chairman in Edo State,” Ativie said.
Okhiongbamwonyi added that Ativie’s suspension by the leadership of LP in the LGA was presented in a letter dated May 4, 2024, and endorsed by Charles Usiesefe and Mike Ighile, the ward chairman and secretary, respectively.
In the letter, the party leadership cautioned her to refrain from holding out or parading herself as a member of LP. Additionally, a letter dated May 30, 2024, which affirmed her suspension by the local government, was tendered before the enlarged meeting of the SWC.
