Labour Party candidates in Bauchi decry treatment by state leadership

The Labour Party in Bauchi State has been gripped by a crisis just a few hours after the party flagged off its presidential campaign in the state.

Shortly after the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Ahmed, led other officials of the party to the Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa Memorial Stadium for the event on Thursday, a group of candidates threatened to dump the party over alleged maltreatment by the state executive committee.

The LP House of Assembly candidate for Duguri/Gwana Constituency, Shabbir Duguri, who addressed journalists on behalf of his colleagues, said they were sidelined at the event.

He said: “You know that our presidential candidate, Peter Obi was in Bauchi today (Thursday) but we (candidates) were completely sidelined.

“Nobody told us about the programme. We were not allowed to play any role before, during and after the programme.

“We are the people at the grassroots, we have strong support base but the leadership of the LP in the state is not carrying us along. We don’t know what is going on in the party.”

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“We gathered that our contributions are not required in the preparations for the presidential election. Though we did not hear that directly from Peter Obi, but, what happened during the campaign was an indication that something is fishy.

“We were not allowed to go close to where he was neither were we presented with flags despite the fact that our names as candidates have been displayed by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

The party’s candidate for Pali State Constituency, MK Said, lamented that the candidates have been left behind in the running of LP in Bauchi after spending their money to float the party in the state.

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