Edo LP crisis deepens as Youth Leader appoints self party chairman

By Innocent Raphael

The crisis in Edo Labour Party (LP) has taken a new dimension as youth leader, Ken Omusi, appointed himself as the State Chairman.

Omusi in a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Benin, announced Stanley Orobosa as the acting Secretary, citing the need to overhaul the party’s leadership due to what he described as the “draconian and tyrannical” style of the disbanded executive.

He dismissed the Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi-led State Working Committee (SWC).

Omusi further dissolved the working committees across the 18 local governments and 192 wards.

He claimed a longstanding membership with LP since 2006, accusing the ousted SWC of arbitrary suspensions of over 350 party members within the last three months, alleging a blatant disregard for the party’s constitution.

“What is happening in LP in Edo State has never happened in the party anywhere else in the country, not even at the national level.

“None of LP members in Edo that were suspended were ever disciplined, according to the party’s constitution,” he alleged.

However, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi, the former chairman, has contested Omusi’s actions, asserting his legitimacy as the substantive chairman and emphasizing that only the National Working Committee (NWC) holds the authority to remove SWC members.

Ogbaloi further expressed optimism that the discord within the Edo chapter would be promptly resolved.