LP suspends ex-Chairman, 5 others for working with opposition parties

Okpala listed the suspended leaders as Mr Moshood Salvador (LP Senatorial Candidate, Lagos West), Mr Mutiu Okunola (House of Reps candidate), Messrs Theodore Ezeunara, Mr Olumide Adesoyin and Opeyemi Taiwo.

He said the suspension followed the party’s reception and ratification of the report of the Disciplinary Committee set up to investigate the acts of anti-party activities levelled against the leaders.

Explaining that the decision was taken at the State Working Committee meeting held on March 31, Okpala said the affected leaders had been found culpable of acts inimical to the progress of the party.

He said, “Labour Party in Lagos state discovered that there were a lot of anti-party activities committed by people who claimed to be members of the party in Lagos state.

“Our postmortem of what really transpired and happened during the general elections revealed that many people who called themselves members of the party were indeed working for the opposition.

“With that information, the LP in Lagos State set up a disciplinary committee headed by one of the deputy chairmen of the party to look into these allegations.

“As an obedient party that adheres to the rule of law, the committee gave everyone involved a fair hearing and opportunity to defend themselves and clear their names.

“At the end of the exercise, the report was tendered before the LP state working committee and at the meeting held on March 31, the disciplinary committee report was accepted and ratified for implementation.”

He said that out of the seven chieftains involved, one Mr Sunbo Onitiri said he had resigned his membership of the LP.

“In obedience to the relevant sections of our constitution, the party took the decision to suspend them from being members of the party with immediate effect.

“The essence is to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to toe that inglorious path again,” he added.

Okpala said the party could not accept having enemies within its fold.

The scribe decried that the affected officers openly demonstrated solidarity and preference to work with and for the candidates of another party during the polls.

According to him, the affected leaders have consistently been disparaging/denigrating the image of the party’s candidates as well as the state leadership of the party without decorum.

He said their actions had brought LP to disrepute, hence the suspension with immediate effect.