The crisis rocking the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party, LP, assumed a new dimension on Friday as two factional chairmen attended a stakeholders’ meeting organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to reports, the meeting was organized for political parties and security agencies ahead of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in the state
The two LP factional chairmen that attended the meeting are Mrs Elizabeth Ativie and Kelly Ogbaloi.
Elizabeth Ativie is the head of the 17-man caretaker committee loyal to Julius Abure, the national chairman of the party, while Kelly Ogbaloi is loyal to the governorship candidate of the party, Barrister Olumide Akpata.
The Ogbaloi-led state executive had last Friday ratified the purported suspension of Julius Abure as the national chairman of the party by his ward executives in Arue-Uromi, Esan North-East local government area.
In retaliation, the Abure-led LP national leadership sacked the Ogbaloi-led state executive and inaugurated a 17-man caretaker committee, led by Elizabeth Ativie.
Abure opined that the dissolution of the Ogbaloi-led executive was occasioned by the expiration of its tenure in April 2024.
The stakeholders’ meeting was chaired by the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and other top management staff of the Commission from Abuja and in the state.
Ativie, while introducing herself, said she is the youngest and the latest political party chairman in the state.
“I am Right Honourable Elizabeth Uyimwen Ativie. By the grace of God, I am the youngest and the latest chairman in town, the Chairman of Labour Party, Edo State,” she said.
Also introducing himself, Ogbaloi said: “I am Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi (KSE), Chairman, Labour Party, Edo State.”
The development threw the hall into hysterical laughter.