From Paul Orude Bauchi
The plan campaign rally of the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, to Bauchi State may be in jeopardy as a leadership crisis has hit the State Chapter of the Party.
Addressing journalists in Bauchi on Wednesday, one of the leaders, Mr Benjamin Edeh said he was allegedly removed from his position as State Publicity Secretary by the State Chairman, Barrister Husseini Saraki without concrete reason.
Edeh, who is also the Head of Media for the ObiDatti Movement in the State, argued that Saraki has no power to remove him as they were all recruited based on commitment and loyalty to the cause of the Obi Movement.
“The Chairman said I have been relieved of my position as State Publicity Secretary. He does not have the power to remove me at all
I don’t really know what is going on and I want the Chairman to come and tell the whole world and the Obidatti Movement what is his hidden agenda and why he removed me,” he said.
According to him, every avenue to resolve the issue has failed as Saraki has stopped picking his calls and only did once and told him that he was now the zonal Publicity Secretary for some local government areas in Bauchi and the party had chosen a new State Publicity Secretary.
Edeh said he declined writing officially to the LP in the state alleging that almost all leadership members are Saraki’s relatives.
He expressed concern that the his alleged removal is coming few days to the coming of Mr Peter Obi to campaign in the State and the general election was around the corner
“Everybody in Bauchi knows that I am one of the few that have been labouring for Obi Movement in Bauchi and for Saraki coming now to distance me away from the Movement is what I don’t know” he said.
“He should tell the world the reason. The Office of the LP was in a corner Nobody knows it until I came on board with my media team and begin to publicise it every where with the help of many support Groups.
“We did the One Million Man march and it became global . We have been carrying out sensitisation of voters in Bauchi and l have been active for Peter Obi and Saraki is trying to remove me, is like removing my strength and the whole Obi Community in the state expects so much from me. How will I now engage them?”
He called on the Presidential Candidate Obi and the national leadership of the party to intervene and resolve the leadership problem in the state before coming to Bauchi State to do the rally.
In his response, Saraki revealed that Edeh was never the State Publicity Secretary of the LP in the state.
“He claims to be working in Nolly wood and came with gadgets and I saw his capacity hence I decided to link him with the Zonal Chairman Pastor Joshua Sunday,” Saraki said in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
“Edeh was not given a letter of appointment but was engaged on a provisional bases as Zonal Publicity Secretary. There were lots of complaints against his appointment but I ignored them and insisted that we need people with capacity”
Saraki claimed that Edeh disrespects the Zonal Vice Chairman of the Labout Party in the state and refuses to take crucial party directives.
He said recently pictures of Obi and Atiku flooded Bauchi and they needed to disclaim it as the people were being misled that Obi has stepped down for Atiku.
“I reported the matter to the Zonal Chairman Joshua Sunday who Zonal Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman called Edeh who refused to pick the calls and later responded that he was sleeping.
“The Zonal Vice Chairman gave him my directive to respond tote issue of Obi and Atiku posters as emergency.
“Edeh refused to act on it. I now directed the state publicity Secretary to do it.
“No father will want his son to go away from him.I am the father of LP in Bauchi. I have given directives on the posters to Edeh to do to correct the narratives about the posters.
“What ever he is doing he is supposed leave it and come to the office immediately but he did not do that and we have a State Publicity Secretary that is available and that is why we used him for that purpose .
“If we had not respond it would have created a lot of implication against us and we had to act swiftly.
“Edeh was never the State Publicity Secretary and nobody has taken his position.
“We want the general pubic to know that there is no problem in LP as far as we are concern. It is a matter of misunderstanding of roles. Isaac Livi is the State Publicity Secretary of LP in Bauchi State”
