On Thursday, the Edo State chapter of Labour Party, LP, faced a new challenge as the state Youth Leader, Ken Omusi, removed the Kelly Ogbaloi-led State Working Committee.
Omusi, along with Stanley Orobosa and another person, declared themselves as the new leaders of the party in the state.
Addressing reporters at the party’s secretariat in Benin City, Omusi proclaimed himself as Acting Chairman and appointed Stanley Orobosa as Secretary in a three-man interim executive for the LP in Edo.
The change in leadership was prompted by what Omusi described as the oppressive and authoritarian rule of the ‘sacked’ state executive.
Having been a party member since 2006, Omusi claimed to have served under three national chairmen – Dan Iwuanyanwu, Alhaji A Abdulsalam, and Barrister Julius Abure.
He accused the Kelly Ogbaloi-led leadership of acting dictatorially by suspending members without adhering to the party Constitution.
Omusi alleged that over the last three months, the state working committee had suspended more than 350 party members.
According to him, these suspensions were communicated through the party’s WhatsApp platform by the state chairman.
Omusi criticized the unprecedented situation in the Edo State party, stating that suspended members were not given fair disciplinary hearings as outlined in the party’s Constitution.
He urged the national party leadership in Abuja to validate the dissolution of the state party exco.
Insisting on the dissolution of the state party exco, Omusi called for support from the national party leadership in Abuja to endorse the changes.
Reacting to the upheaval, Kelly Ogbaloi asserted his position as the legitimate chairman of the party in the state and contested the authority of Ken Omusi and his associates to remove the state working committee.
Ogbaloi, who claimed to be in discussion with the national chairman of the party in Abuja, emphasized that only the National Working Committee has the jurisdiction to dismiss any member of a state working committee.