Nigeria’s Labour Party is facing a deepening leadership dispute after the faction loyal to the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, warned Senator Nenadi Usman against dissolving elected party officials across the country.
In a statement released on Saturday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said the leadership aligned with Abure considers any attempt to remove ward, local government, and state executives unlawful.
The statement said the party leadership was reacting to comments from what it described as a faction of the party that is backing a caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi Usman, a former Nigerian Minister of Finance.
According to the statement, the group supporting Usman had allegedly suggested dissolving the party’s leadership structures nationwide and replacing them with interim officials.
“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.
The Labour Party leadership also referred to a position taken by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Nigerian government body responsible for supervising elections and political parties.
Quoting the electoral commission, the statement said: “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.”
Despite the ongoing court case over the party’s leadership, the Abure faction said it decided to respond publicly because of what it called misleading claims.
“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-led group insisted that the caretaker committee does not have constitutional backing under the party’s rules. It argued that the committee was created outside the established procedures of the Labour Party.
“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 alleged that Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, and Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 election, were involved in forming the caretaker committee.
“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,” it said.
The party further argued that any court ruling that attempts to validate the committee would not override the party’s constitution.
“An illegality of that sort cannot be legitimised by a procured judgment of a Federal High Court,” the statement said.
Members of the party were urged to ignore what the leadership described as attempts to mislead supporters while the legal battle continues.
“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.
The leadership added that it expects the courts to settle the dispute and allow the party to prepare for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
“Hopefully, we will reclaim our dear beloved party and also play an active role ahead of the 2027 general elections,” it added.