- The party said its active involvement in the reform of the electoral laws was to build the foundation for a free, fair and credible 2027 general election.
In its bid to forestall the reoccurrence of manipulations and rigging that made it lose major elections last year, the Labour Party (LP) says it will play a crucial role in the reform of the Electoral Act.
The party said its active involvement in the reform of the electoral laws was to build the foundation for a free, fair and credible 2027 general election.
Julius Abure, the LP national chairman, announced the development on Wednesday when he received the 2023 Enugu governorship candidate of the party Chijioke Edeoga in Abuja.
Obiora Ifoh, the LP national publicity secretary, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
“ The whole world is aware of it. Even before you spoke about electoral reforms the party has decided since last year that we are going to pursue electoral reforms in Nigeria. And that what happened to us in the general election will never happen to us again.
“We believe that the starting point is to begin early enough with the pursuit of electoral reform because we saw all the antics that played out between the national assembly and the presidency in the past electoral reform.
“And as I speak with you, we are already constituting the committee that will give us the framework for the review. We also decided that Labour Party will not be a spectator and that we will be the drivers of that processes.”
Abure also said the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi and Enugu state governorship candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, are the two biggest casualties of Nigeria’s flawed Electoral Act.
According to him, “It is very clear that they robbed us of that election. It was done in collusion with INEC officials and PDP government in Enugu state.
“I have made it clear that the major victim of the 2023 general election is the Labour Party. And therefore we cannot be seen to take back seat in the pursuit of electoral reform and in defence of our votes. And since you are a major victim, one major victim after Peter Obi of electoral fraud in Nigeria, you will be in the best position to help the party and the Nigeria generally to resolve this crisis in our hand.”