The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Political Commission, on Friday, said Julius Abure is no longer the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

The commission said that Abure’s claim that Wednesday’s picketing of the national secretariat of the Party led to the theft of staff salary was “sarcastic and pathetic.”

The statement reads, “Following this week’s successful take-over of Labour Party Secretariats nationwide by the Nigeria Labour Congress who are the real owners of the party, Mr. Julius Abure’s silhouette continues to hide from the long arms of the law over various allegations and charges bordering on criminality. It is unfortunate that instead of courageously coming out to the open to defend himself against several fingers pointing in his direction, Mr. Abure has adopted the cowardly posture of crouching in the undergrowth of shame, lies, treachery and infamy to lay fictitious claims against a dignified, focused and honourable institution like the Nigeria Labour Congress.

“The reclaiming of Labour Party Secretariats across the country was witnessed by many policemen, officers from the State Security Service, and many journalists including television crews. The import of Mr. Abure’s fictitious claim is that the police, other security agents and tens of journalists who observed the peaceful visit by the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission were accessory to the crime of petty theft. We expect the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to add this outrageous defamation to the long list of crimes perpetrated by Mr. Abure.

“During the nationwide peaceful reclaim of Labour Party’s secretariats, not even one canister of tear gas was fired as the picketing was conducted in tandem with the NLC’s philosophy and disposition to peaceful protests. For Abure to concoct such daylight falsehood clearly proves to all Nigerians that he carries moral leprosy and must be avoided at all costs. The inconsistency in Abure’s account – from allegations of missing billions now to the theft of workers’ salaries and destruction of valuables – clearly confirms our earlier assessment of him as a drowning political wannabe.

“After being rejected by all stakeholders in the Labour Party, we urge Mr. Julius Abure to show his face in public. He should not hide underground and be vomiting gibberish. The few insignificant scoundrels still hanging on to Abure’s tattered pockets of ill-gotten coins, including irresponsible grandfathers who have committed class suicide and show no visible means of livelihood, and who now appear on television to lie on Labour Party ownership must remember that history’s judgement on traitors is very dire.

“As for Abure, his cup of moral rascality, administrative indiscretion and political incompetence overflows. The Nigeria Labour Congress intends to institute a private legal process against him for the defamation of the noble character of the Congress. He should also be ready to answer questions on why he kept staff salaries in the office a self-admission to financial impropriety, sleaze, and disdain for due process cum accountability.

“While the security agents intensify their nationwide manhunt for Mr. Julius Abure and his ‘food is ready’ partners in perfidy, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission wishes to remind all Nigerian workers and people that our focus can never be a tiny chameleon who lives under the coarse cannon of common criminality and fodders of low level infamy. We are focussed on fumigating and ridding the Labour Party of rodents whose only source of livelihood and survival is in picking on the mahogany of ideological and moral clarity that the Labour Party of Nigeria represents.