The Labour Party‘s leadership has declared that they are a member of the recently formed alliance of political parties that share similar concerns.
On Wednesday, a coalition including seven opposition political groups was established with the aim of fortifying democracy within the nation.
Leaders of the political parties gathered at the Social Democratic Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja to launch the movement known as the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties.
On the list of members, however, the name of the Labour group, another significant opposition group, was noticeably absent.
The Peoples Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Young Progressives Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Peoples Allied Movement, and Zenith Labour Party were the members of the coalition.
The LP leadership denied leaving the coalition when approached.
The LP’s National Working Committee was duly informed about the coalition’s establishment, according to Umar Farouk, the party’s National Secretary, who spoke with our correspondent over the phone in an exclusive interview.
He said, “They (coalition) wrote and informed us. In fact, we shortlisted people to represent the party at the session yesterday (Thursday); unfortunately, those who were supposed to be there did not go. But we are together with them. The LP is part and parcel of the coalition.”
Yunusa Tanko, the primary spokesperson for the LP, expressed similar sentiments, saying that the coalition’s main goals were to protect democracy and prevent the nation from becoming a one-party state.
“The LP has been speaking basically with the PDP, NNPP and trying to see how we can speak as one to save democracy in which all of us are stakeholders,” he said.
