The leadership of the Labour Party, LP, says it did not authorize the appointment of Charles Odibo as spokesperson for its presidential campaign.
Leader of the National Consultative Front, NCF, Pat Utomi, had at a media briefing on Thursday announced Odibo as the leader of the communication team for the Labour Party campaign.
But in a statement on Saturday, Arabambi Abayomi, national publicity secretary of the LP, said the NCF had no constitutional power to make appointments for the party, adding that only Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman, could make such appointment.
“Our attention has been drawn to the news intercepted through multiple news medium that one Mr Charles Odibo has been appointed as the spokesman of Labour Party by Prof. Pat Utomi,” the statement reads. “It is not undisputed that LP has not made such appointment since Utomi, who is the leader of NCF, cannot usurp the function of the National Chairman.”
The statement adds that, “For the records, Utomi who is the leader of the NCF, a strong affiliate of the LP, while in a Zoom meeting, introduced Charles Odibo as the media head of the ‘Big Tent’, an acronym for the NCF and no mention of LP was made on that platform.
“All appointments by the LP are made through the office of the national chairman and announcement made by the national publicity secretary under the directive of the national chairman.”
According to article 14 subsection 1(a) of the party’s constitution, the national chairman reserves the right to make appointments, Abayomi noted.
