Labour Party’s attack on Reps caucus tactless, uncharitable - Leader

The Labour Party caucus in the House of Representatives has asked the leadership of the party to put an end to the infighting that is threatening the party and engage in further consultation in the overall interest of the party.

The caucus leader, Victor Ogene wondered why the acting national publicity secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh decided to play to the gallery, accusing the lawmakers of lying about the planned national convention of the party.

The LP caucus leader had called for postponement of the proposed national convention of the party scheduled for end of the month to allow wider consultations and proper planning in view of the internal bickering among the leadership.

The caucus had also said that many stakeholders, including the lawmakers, were not carried along in the processes leading to the choice of date and venue for the convention.

He said Ifoh also referred to the lawmaker as “Unknowledgeable as it relates to the constitution of the party under which he was elected.”

In a statement signed by the Media Adviser to the Labour Party caucus Leader, Edward Dibiana, the caucus described the attack by the LP spokesman as tactless, unprofessional, devoid of emotional intelligence and unbecoming of a party official who is still on an acting capacity.

The statement said: “Rather than respond to the call for further consultations and proper planning raised by Hon. Ogene, Ifoh, strangely went on a disgraceful tirade,

“Ifoh has by this unprofessional, tasteless and infantile outburst – which is fast becoming his trademark – failed to represent his party in a manner that supports a capacity, strategic thinking and emotional intelligence disposition that the position of a party’s spokesman demands.

“The job of a party spokesman, like that of every other public communications expert, is not only to issue press statements, but essentially, to help promote the image and integrity of the party, through application of sense of propriety in conduct and delivery of information of public interest in a manner that would attract support and goodwill for the party across party lines and beyond, rather than embarrass the party at every turn by making a joke of the responsibility of a publicity secretary and creating more problems for the people you serve, by always playing to the gallery.

“Ifoh claimed that the caucus was informed about the convention, but it would be good for him to support such allegation with any official document, communicating same to the lawmakers. A side gossip and official communication are never the same.

“It is also very insensitive and disappointing for Ifoh, who was only hurriedly brought in to fill in a gap in an acting capacity to dismiss the call for “proper planning and wider consultations”, by the Labour Reps as “a mischief taken too far.”

“If, for the sake of argument, one is to believe the argument that Ifoh was ‘directed’ to issue such infantile statement by his masters, civility and candour requires that he ought to go on such ill-advised errand with the decorum and tact of a professional.

“For instance, as Leader of the Labour Caucus in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ogene needs to balance the strategic interests of his constituents, his colleagues in the House and other Stakeholders, whilst Ifoh only owes responsibility to his paymasters, for whom he solely functions as an destructive agent against the party and its stakeholders, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), who he also attacked recently.

“Was it not the same Ogene who galvanized the caucus members in support of Barrister Julius Abure, when he was arrested and dehumanised like ordinary criminal last month?

He insisted: “Ifoh cannot possibly address himself as National Publicity Secretary, having not been elected to any such office. Or has he procured a back door confirmation of the position that he now addresses himself as a substantive National Publicity Secretary?

“Who would even take the Labour Party seriously when less than two weeks to the unilaterally fixed convention, no planning committee has been empanelled, no delegates have been named, and no one knows who is running for what office, and worse of all, party members remain in the dark? Yet Ifoh and his enablers are fixated only on those they feel are not respecting Abure. Enough of this charade.”