By Peter Salami
The two factions of the Labour Party (LP) led by Julius Abure and Nenadi Usman, yesterday took to the trenches, while reacting to the decision of the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi to join the opposition coalition, which adopted African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its new platform last Tuesday.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, had on Tuesday, along other prominent opposition politicians in the country on Tuesday agreed to team up under the platform of the ADC to wrestle power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2027.
He also followed up yesterday with a declaration to dump the Labour Party and join the ADC.
But while factional National Chairman of LP, Nenadi Usman, said the party approved the move by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to join an opposition coalition led by David Mark, the Julius Abure-led faction of the party said it was not interested in joining the coalition, describing members of the coalition as power mongers whose only interest was self and not the people.
In a statement yesterday, Usman slammed the Julius Abure-led group as “political jesters with no legitimate standing in Labour Party”.
Usman, through her aide Ken Asogwa, stressed that Abure and those behind the 48-hour ultimatum issued to Obi to resign are “neither recognised by the party nor by the law, having long been sacked by the Supreme Court of Nigeria – the highest court in the land – and suspended from the party for their serial acts of indiscipline and anti-party activities”.
The acting LP chair said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the leadership of the Labour Party, on May 26, 2025, publicly declared its full support for Mr. Obi’s involvement in the coalition efforts aimed at creating a robust political alternative to rescue Nigeria from the disastrous misrule of the APC. That position has not changed.
“We wish to reaffirm that Mr. Peter Obi’s participation in the coalition activities, including the ADC unveiling, was done with the full knowledge, approval, and support of the Labour Party leadership.
“It is the remnants of the disorder and mess left behind by these impostors that the current leadership under Senator Nenadi Usman continues to clean. Therefore, members of the public, and especially the media, are urged to disregard the distractions and mischief from these discredited elements.”
On its part, the Julius Abure-led faction, in reaction, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Peter Obi to formally resign his membership of the Labour Party having formally joined the coalition party.
The party warned Nigerians that the often mouthed ‘new Nigeria is Possible’ is a ruse and cannot be achieved with the assemblage of old, recycled, desperate, and frustrated politicians in the coalition.
The National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement yesterday, said that all those who mismanaged Nigeria over the years are the ones that gathered themselves in the coalition while noting that desperate politicians can’t birth new Nigeria.
The statement read, “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them has refused to defect with him.
“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition, and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.
“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one party and another leg elsewhere. People that in the morning, they will claim to be in the Labour Party, and in the evening, they are in coalition.
“Nearly 70 per cent of Nigerian population are youths who are tired of the old order, tired of gerontocrats deciding their fate. The new Nigeria that the youths are dreaming of is not what can be realized from what we are seeing in the coalition.
“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in relaunching themselves into a circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.
“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realized through the Labour Party, and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.
I therefore urge all members of the party to remain loyal and keep the party structure intact ahead of future elections.
Meanwhile, Obi, yesterday officially dumped the party to join forces with the 2027 opposition coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu.
Obi said that the decision to team up with the coalition, which adopted African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its new platform was not taken lightly.
Reacting in a statement on his X handle yesterday morning, perhaps in response to LP’s 48-hour ultimatum to resign, Peter Obi said the coalition’s commitment was to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections.
He said the coalition would ensure that Nigeria got a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership.
According to the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), the decision to adopt the ADC came from deep reflection on “where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.”
His statement read: “Yesterday, the coalition members formally adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 Nigeria General Elections with Distinguished Senator David Mark serving as the National Chairman and H.E. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.
“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.
“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.
“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy.”
Leaders and members of the opposition coalition had on Wednesday met in Abuja and announced the African Democratic Party (ADC) as the platform for the 2027 election.
They selected former Senate President David Mark and ex-Osun governor Rauf Aregbesola as interim National Chairman and Secretary, respectively.
Aside from Obi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, and many others were present at the meeting. Others include Dino Melaye, Solomon Dalong, Dele Momodu, Gabriel Suswam, Ireti Kingibe, Emeka Ihedioha, and Sadique Abubakar.