A mild drama unfolded yesterday at the state secretariat of the Labour Party in Edo State as the youth leader of the party, Ken Omusi, dismissed the Kelly Ogbaloi-led State Working Committee.
The party has been embroiled in crisis following the primary election and the subsequent suspension of members ahead of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Addressing journalists at the party’s state secretariat in Benin City, Omusi declared himself the acting chairman and appointed Stanley Orobosa as secretary and one other person as a member of the three-man interim executive of the party in the state.
“The change in the leadership of the State Working Committee was necessitated by the draconian and tyrannical leadership style of the dismissed state executive,” Omusi alleged.
He further claimed that over the last three months, not less than 350 members had been suspended on the WhatsApp platform of the party by the state chairman without the backing of the party.
While announcing the dissolution of the executives of the party, Omusi called on the national leadership of the party in Abuja to ratify their actions and resolutions.
“I, Ken Omusi, am the acting chairman, along with Comrade Stanley Orobosa and other members of the committee. We have a three-man committee in the state, a three-man committee in each of the 18 local government areas, and a three-man committee in each of the 192 wards,” he added.
In response, Kelly Ogbaloi insisted that he remained the substantive party chairman in the state and that Omusi and his cohorts had no legal right to remove any state working committee member.
“The only body with the power to remove any state working committee member is the national working committee,” Ogbaloi emphasized.
“I remain the substantive chairman of the Labour Party in Edo State. No part of the party has been dissolved. The group you mentioned has no legal right or backing to dissolve any executive of a state council,” he added.
Ogbaloi assured that the situation in Benin City would be addressed as soon as he returned from Abuja.
