The Labour Party has debunked claims that the party is open to and engaged in merger discussions with other opposition political parties.
In a statement on Thursday by Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the party, he said news making the rounds that the party is engaged in merger discussions is “twisted to embarrass the Labour Party”.
His comments come on the heels of reports making the rounds on social media that the parties are engage in merger discussions headed by the PDP.
Chronicle NG reports that Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 presidential election, had called for a merger of all the opposition political parties in a bid to present a common front strong enough to prevent Nigeria from becoming a ”one party system” and to wrestle power from the ruling party, the APC.
However, reacting to the reports, Ifoh urged Nigerians and the general public to “kindly disregard the sensational news making the round that suggests that the Labour Party is working out a merger arrangement with any other political party,” the statement reads.
“It is purely a news item twisted and sensationalized by a section of the media to embarrass the Labour Party.
“A news organization called for a reaction as regards to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for opposition political parties to work together to fight against the one-party system in Nigeria being planned by the APC.
“In my reaction, I said that it was only a proposal and that every Nigerian should be interested in making democracy work in Nigeria and that what we have presently is an autocracy.
“There was nowhere in the response that the purported merger between LP and PDP was mentioned.
“The Labour Party has just concluded the 2023 general election episode, and a post-mortem is yet to be held; therefore, the way forward for the party has not been discussed. When we do, Nigerians will be properly informed.
“I therefore urge Nigerians to disregard such and many other twisted and sensational stories purported to emanate from the Labour Party. The party has its own official platform used to disseminate its information.”
