With just hours to the Labour Party’s governorship primary in Anambra State, one of its two aspirants, John Nwosu, has pulled out of the race, citing multiple irregularities in the build-up to the exercise.
Nwosu made the announcement in a press statement on Friday, accusing the party of flouting both its own internal rules and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines.
He alleged that no delegates congress was conducted in any of the state’s 21 local government areas to elect those who would vote at the primary.
Instead, a list of delegates suddenly surfaced at the Labour Party secretariat in Awka just eight hours before the scheduled primary.
“There was no proper congress. A delegate list was simply pasted overnight. It’s a complete breach of due process,” Nwosu said.
He further raised concerns over the involvement of Julius Abure in the process. According to him, the planning of the primary was supervised by Abure, whose tenure as the party’s national chairman had already expired, following a Supreme Court verdict delivered a day before the primary.
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“All activities coordinated by the Abure-led faction after the Supreme Court ruling are constitutionally null and void. I cannot be part of such illegality,” he said, adding that his decision to withdraw is to preserve his “integrity and Christian values.”
With Nwosu’s exit, former National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) boss, George Moghalu, is now left as the sole aspirant in the Labour Party’s primary.
The development adds another layer of controversy to the party’s internal affairs, especially in Anambra, where tensions have been simmering over leadership legitimacy and procedural transparency ahead of the November 8 governorship election.