By John Akubo, Abuja
• Abure holds NEC meeting, threatens to sanction Obi, Otti
• Obi not joining SDP, says Obidient Movement
The Labour Party (LP) is hurtling towards a defining moment as duelling power blocs prepare for a significant political standoff in Abuja this week, with former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, leading a fresh charge to reclaim the party.
This comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled on the party’s protracted leadership crisis, which has instead deepened the division.
While the apex court nullified Julius Abure’s National Working Committee (NWC), the embattled chairman doubled down, holding his own National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, yesterday, in Abuja.
The Abure NEC threatened to sanction Otti, should he go ahead with the planned stakeholders’ meeting, scheduled for April 9, 2025. It also warned Obi against any conduct that promotes disunity within the party.
Contrary to insinuations that Obi is planning to defect to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, said Obi is still a member of LP.
Abure, ironically, declared the Supreme Court verdict a “triumph for internal party sovereignty” and used the platform to consolidate loyalty among his allies.
“The court has said it loud and clear: leadership tussles are not for judicial arbitration. This is a resounding victory not for Abure, but for party democracy across Nigeria,” he declared.
Not resting on legal interpretations, Obi and Otti have jointly summoned a critical NEC and Stakeholders’ Townhall for tomorrow, April 9, 2025, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, a meeting being hailed as a possible turning point for a fractured party.
In a joint notice, the duo outlined a broad invite list, including the 2023 vice presidential candidate, serving and former lawmakers, National Assembly candidates from the last elections, National Caretaker Committee members, former gubernatorial aspirants, NLC/TUC Political Commission representatives and former NWC members.
Political analysts see the wide-reaching engagement as an attempt to restore party discipline, rebuild consensus and chart a unified direction ahead of 2027.
“This is not just a power move, it is a rescue mission,” said a top LP strategist familiar with the plans. “What Abure is doing is political brinkmanship. What Obi and Otti are offering is party revival.”
At the parallel NEC meeting, yesterday, at the party’s Utako secretariat, Abure’s loyalists passed a flurry of controversial resolutions to include the reinstatement of Abure’s mandate and affirmation of the March 27, 2024 Nnewi Convention that was rejected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declaring it binding.
They also rebuked Obi and Otti, accusing the duo of engineering an “illegal caretaker committee.”
The NEC warned Obi against “divisive actions” and accused Otti of anti-party activities and potential defection.
The Abure faction removed Victor Ogene as House Caucus Leader and replaced him with Ben Etanabene, vowing to uphold party discipline “regardless of influence.”
It also pledged continued commitment to national transformation, good governance and economic recovery.
Contrary to expectations, the Supreme Court ruling, which terminated the tenure of Abure’s NWC on procedural grounds, triggered a political duel between Obi-Otti reformists and the Abure-led establishment.
Some legal observers argue that while the court recognised the autonomy of political parties, it left enough ambiguity to fuel both camps’ claims to legitimacy.
A communiqué read by the national secretary of the Abure faction, Umar Farouk, at the end of a NEC meeting stresses that at no point within the Supreme Court judgment did it sack Julius Abure as National Chairman.
What happens in Abuja on April 9 could determine whether LP emerges stronger and more cohesive or sinks deeper into internal crisis just two years before the next general elections.
Tanko equally mentioned that LP leaders would meet within the week to address key issues, including the Supreme Court judgment sacking Abure. He emphasised that Obi’s membership status with LP “remains unchanged.”
The statement counters comments by SDP’s former presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, who claimed that Obi and Atiku Abubakar were in talks with the SDP in preparation for defection.
Culled from The Guardian
