Some members of the Labour Party in Lagos on Thursday staged a peaceful protest against the alleged imposition of Kayode Salako as chairman of the party in the State.
Recall that a support group under the auspices of Grassroots Mobilisation 2023 Movement had in September, 2022, alleged that Salako is working for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos.
“Labour Party Chairman in Lagos Kayode Salako is working for Tinubu. We must root him out of the party,” the group was quoted as saying.
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The protest was held after the launching of the book titled: “The Challenges of Good Governance and Leadership in Nigeria; The Peter Obi Factor” at Welcome Centre Hotel in Lagos.
The protesters, who stormed the venue, called on the national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, to remove Salako as the Lagos Labour Party chairman with immediate effect.
They displayed placards with various inscriptions such as ‘Salako Must Go’, ‘We ’, ‘It’s unconstitutional to impose chairman on Lagos Labour Party, and ‘Abure stop disrespecting NLC & TUC, they gave birth to Labour Party,’ among others.
The leader of the protesters, identified simply as Omoba, alleged that Mr. Salako is working for Tinubu, while calling on the national chairman to do the right thing by “approving the list of inclusive executives (caretaker leaders) he requested from the State Leadership”.
“All we (aggrieved members) are asking for is that Salako should leave Lagos Labour Party. We are calling on the National Chairman whom Salako claimed that he appointed him in person of Julius Abure to do the right thing.
“Salako’s tenure has expired and we no longer recognise him as our leader. We have a leader (Tony Masha) who is trustworthy and has managed the crisis in the party so far.
“Our major fight is that Salako and other APC moles should leave Labour Party. He (Salako) who is claiming to be chairman of Labour Party has a wife whose name appears in APC Campaign Council list. She (Salako’s wife) is an open supporter of BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) and her husband is claiming that he is working for Peter Obi, how is that possible?”
Quest Times understands that the Lagos Chapter of the Labour Party elected Salako, husband of Nollywood actress, Foluke Daramola, as the new party chairman in the State in July 2022.