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Nathaniel Gbaoron, Lafia
There’s a crisis of confidence brewing between the Nasarawa State chairman of the Labour Party, Alexander Emmanuel and the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Joseph Ewuga, with the latter accusing the former of undermining the movement.
The governorship candidates told journalists in Lafia on Saturday that the chairman’s body language suggested that he is working against the party’s chances ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Mr. Ewuga alleged that the chairman of the party has been hobnobbing with candidates of other political parties to the detriment of his own party, adding that such attitude is inimical to the party’s progress.
He said the party has made significant progress through grassroots mobilisation and sensitisation, which has enhanced its members’ drive.
He said the acceptability rating of the party in the state has been overwhelming, a move which he said, was as a result of the doggedness of the candidate and other members.
He said the recent one million match in the state, which was his brainchild, has been giving both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sleepless nights.
He noted that the party chairman is using the rising profile of the party in the state to feather his own nest by going round to negotiate with other political parties behind key stakeholders.
He gave an instance of how the chairman was allegedly hosted by a candidate of a certain political party in the race for the 2023 governorships election in the state in Jos, Plateau State recently.
He also accused the chairman of refusing to carry him and others along in the party’s activities, while also alleging that the chairman at some point attempted to replace him with a certain individual as party candidate at some point before the window closed for candidate substitution.
He urged the party’s national leadership to call the chairman to order before he does incalculable damage to the party in the state and undermine the progress so far made.
However, when our correspondent approached the chairman for his comment on the controversy, he said he can only do so in the presence of the candidate.
He said the governorship candidate has been distancing himself from the party, noting that as a candidate, he cannot be bigger than the party.
He said he was instrumental to the emergence of Mr Ewuga as the candidate of the party even though the odds were high against him.