Labour Party Renames ‘Obident Directorate’– Days After Backlash

• Recall that Peter Obi, a chieftain of the Labour Party, said the Obidient movement is not a directorate of any political party.
• The groups had distanced themselves from the LP’s leadership structure, accusing the National Working Committee (NWC) of attempting to exert control over the movement.

The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has renamed the ‘Obidient Directorate’ to the ‘Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration’ after criticism.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party.

Ifoh said the ‘Obidient Directorate’ will now be known and referred to as the ‘Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration’.

The statement reads, ”Following the controversies arising from the creation of the Directorate of OBIDIENT Affairs, in the party, the Directorate is hereby renamed the Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration.

“The inauguration will take place on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the party’s National Secretariat, Utako, Abuja, by 10 am.

“Party members and the general public should take note.”

Recall that Peter Obi, a chieftain of the Labour Party, said the Obidient movement is not a directorate of any political party.

This was in reaction to the announcement by the party appointing directors to, among other things, coordinate the registration of all members of the Obidient community and ‘integrate them fully into the structure of the party’.

The former Anambra State governor countered the Labour Party, noting that the ‘Obidient Movement’ is not a directorate of any political party.

Obi said the clarification should suffice that the movement operates independently of any political party, and its membership is not limited to any particular affiliation.

In a statement earlier, the leadership of the ‘Obidient Movement’ disowned the decision of the party to establish an ‘Obedient Directorate’.

The decision comes after intense criticism from Peter Obi as well as over 200 support groups within the ‘Obidient Movement’, who felt the original directorate threatened their independence.

The groups had distanced themselves from the LP’s leadership structure, accusing the National Working Committee (NWC) of attempting to exert control over the movement.