***Promises Rebirth Before 2027
The Interim National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Senator Nenadi Usman, has blamed ‘external forces’ for the party’s internal crisis in a broader attempt to destabilize opposition politics in Nigeria.
Speaking at COPDEM’s Virtual People’s Parliament on Monday, Usman said the Labour Party’s leadership tussle—resolved twice this year by the Supreme Court and most recently by a Federal High Court in Abuja—was more than a domestic dispute.
“This is not just an attack on the Labour Party; it is part of a larger strategy to weaken virtually all opposition parties in Nigeria,” she declared.
Usman, who was affirmed as leader of the party after months of courtroom battles, argued that the confusion was deliberately engineered to stall LP’s momentum after its dramatic rise in the 2023 general elections, where it won one governorship, eight Senate seats, 34 seats in the House of Representatives, and dozens more in state assemblies. “Our 2023 breakthrough shook the foundations of the political establishment,” she noted, adding that the same forces who celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling against LP’s presidential petition were now encouraging disobedience to its ruling on party leadership.
Despite the setbacks, Usman unveiled sweeping reforms to “reposition the LP for victory in 2027.” These include a nationwide drive to enroll 10 million new members, ward-to-national congresses culminating in a convention to elect substantive leaders, and stricter screening of candidates to weed out opportunists.
“Our platform will not be a stepping stone for those seeking personal gain, but a home for patriots committed to service and transformation,” she said.
Usman admitted that defections by some LP lawmakers exposed weaknesses in the party’s rapid 2023 expansion. “We must accept that in our meteoric rise, some candidates slipped through without proper checks. That will not happen again,” she assured.
Analysts say the remarks mark a turning point in the party’s recovery, shifting the narrative from courtroom battles to survival, reform, and a long game towards 2027. For now, Usman’s challenge will be to unite a fractured base, resist external pressures, and prove that the Labour Party’s 2023 surge was not a one-off protest vote but the beginning of a durable political alternative.