The cat and rat war between Ambassador Curtis Eghosa Ugbo and the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) seems to be unending as daily the two opposing sides dig deep into their arsenal to either come up with one weapon or the other.
In his response, Ugbo, supporting his claims with loads of documents said that he has been a member of the party since 2016. He told Popular News that by 2018 he signified his intention to contest for the chairmanship of Oredo Local Government Council for which he was billed to pay N100,000 to Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi, the then state Secretary of the party, through one Frederick Akhere.
The latest in the seemingly unending war is that the 2024 governorship hopeful has chest out to debunk the claims by the party that he is not their member neither is he a governorship hopeful under their banner.
“It is very absurd for the Labour Party (LP) officials to deny that I am not a member of the party. I have been a member of the party since 2016 and I was given the party’s membership card to admit me into the party officially. By 2018 I met with the party officials to intimate them of my intention to run for election as chairman of Oredo Local Government Council under the party’s banner.
“I was offered the party flag after I made some payments to Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi who was then the party’s Secretary in Edo State. The payments running up to N100,000(One hundred thousand naira) was received on his behalf by Frederick Akhere.
“I am not surprised at this action of the party to deny me. The party is just like any other before it filled with rogue politicians. I gradually lost interest in the party as they did not meet up with their promise to give my campaigns around the council area their support. Not only that they ended up passing the campaign bills of the councillorship candidates to me which I graciously accepted.
“My return to actively associate with the party and its officials was made possible because of the emergence of Governor Peter Obi as its Presidential Candidate in late 2022.”
Ambassador Ugbo stated that the party’s officials action “is a way of distracting people who don’t believe in or conform with their irregular attitude of lining their pockets with filthy lucre as they sell party tickets to the highest bidders using very dishonest methods which include forgery of court documents, forgery of signatures of judiciary officials as has been brought to the notice of the police and the courts and is now under investigation.
“Thus it come as a surprise that the party’s 36 states chairmen will not wait for the police to conclude their investigation or the court comes up with its judgement on the case before giving their support to Abure and his co-travellers in the party’s national headquarters.
“For Abure to divert attention to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the cause of his travails is pushing deceit too far. He and his team are the course of whatever they’re going through at the moment.”
By the way, the LP should stop trying to play smart. The Palace of the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare 11, N’Ogidigan, is apolotical so the LP making a mention of it by describing me as chief in the Palace is uncalled for. I am a mere appointee of the monarch.
