Abuja, Nigeria — A leadership dispute within Nigeria’s Labour Party has intensified after the faction led by the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, warned that any move to dissolve elected party executives at ward, local government, and state levels would be unlawful.
The warning was issued in a statement on Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, speaking on behalf of the leadership aligned with Abure. The statement was directed at a caretaker committee headed by Senator Nenadi Usman, a former Minister of Finance of Nigeria, which has been involved in an ongoing internal power struggle within the opposition party.
The Labour Party is one of Nigeria’s major political parties and played a prominent role in the country’s 2023 general election through the presidential candidacy of former Anambra State governor Peter Obi. However, the party has since been divided by competing leadership claims that are currently the subject of legal proceedings.
According to the statement, the Abure-led leadership accused what it described as a “discredited faction” of attempting to dissolve the party’s existing leadership structures across the country. The group insisted that the caretaker committee led by Usman does not have the authority to take such action.
“The leadership of the Labour Party has taken note of a statement issued by a discredited faction of the party wherein it made light of a wise counsel by the Independent National Electoral Commission warning that the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee lacks the powers to dissolve the existing Ward, Local Government and State executives of the party and replace them with handpicked interim executives,” the statement said.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the constitutional body responsible for organising and regulating elections in the country, was also referenced in the dispute. The Abure-led faction said the commission had already rejected attempts to dismantle the party’s existing state structures.
Quoting from a letter it said was issued by the electoral commission, the statement noted: “The commission regrets to inform you that the dissolution of State, Local Government and Ward Executives of your Party in all the 36 States and FCT by the National Executive Council (NEC) without giving the statutory notice of the meeting to the Commission and without the authority to act in your Party Constitution cannot be acceded to.”
The statement explained that although the leadership conflict is currently before the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Nigeria, the party felt compelled to respond to what it described as misleading claims circulating among members and supporters.
“Ordinarily, we would have chosen to refrain from making any public statement as the issue of the leadership of the party is presently before the Court of Appeal. However, it is pertinent to address the lies being spewed by the Nenadi Usman faction,” the statement added.
The Abure faction further argued that the caretaker committee itself lacks constitutional recognition within the Labour Party. It claimed that the committee was formed outside the procedures outlined in the party’s constitution.
“It is only in the imagination of the distinguished Senator Nenadi Usman that one can wake up one morning and decide who to fire or hire in contravention of the electoral law and party constitution,” the statement said.
The statement also accused two prominent Labour Party figures, Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria, and Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, of playing a role in the emergence of the caretaker leadership.
“Dr Alex Otti and Peter Obi woke up one morning and gathered some stakeholders and appointed her and others as the interim caretaker committee of the party, which is alien to the constitution of the party,” the statement claimed.
The Abure-led leadership insisted that any attempt to legitimise the caretaker arrangement through a court ruling would not override the provisions of the party’s constitution.
“An illegality of that sort cannot be legitimised by a procured judgment of a Federal High Court,” the statement said.
Okay News reports that the ongoing dispute highlights deep divisions within the Labour Party as it prepares for Nigeria’s next general elections scheduled for 2027.
The Abure faction urged party members to disregard what it described as attempts to mislead supporters and said it expects the courts to resolve the dispute.
“We urge the real members of the Labour Party to ignore the antics of these usurpers as their game will soon be up,” the statement said.
It added that the party remains confident that the appellate court will clarify the leadership question and allow the organisation to focus on its political activities ahead of the next national vote.
“Hopefully, we will reclaim our dear beloved party and also play an active role ahead of the 2027 general elections,” the statement added.
