Despite garnering 6,101,533 votes—25.40% of the total—in the 2023 presidential election, the Labour Party (LP) has since drifted into a destructive internal power struggle, threatening the very momentum it built under its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
Obi’s dramatic move from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to LP in the weeks leading to the election turned what was a conventional two-horse race into a viable three-way contest. But while his presence reinvigorated the party nationally, the aftermath of the election has revealed deep-seated fractures, masked only temporarily for electoral expediency.
From Promise to Power Struggle
What began as a promising political movement has deteriorated into a bitter and convoluted leadership war, exposing the party’s fragile internal structure and lack of institutional maturity.
Initially, the leadership dispute centered around Mr. Julius Abure, who ascended from National Secretary to National Chairman, and Alhaji Lamidi Apapa, the Deputy National Chairman (South). While legal tussles between the two were temporarily subdued, the calm was short-lived.
The next blow came from within Abure’s own camp. The party’s former National Treasurer, Ms. Oluchi Okpara, accused him of financial mismanagement to the tune of N3.6 billion—allegedly unaccounted for funds generated from the sales of nomination forms and donations before and during the 2023 elections. The demand by Peter Obi for a forensic audit has since gone unanswered, fuelling further distrust.
A Party in Fragmentation
With Abure’s tenure—questionably extended due to the 2023 elections—coming to an end in March 2024, the crisis escalated. What followed was a controversial national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State, convened by Abure and his allies. Critically, the event excluded key stakeholders including Peter Obi, Abia State Governor Alex Otti, and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)—the very forces that helped secure LP’s national relevance.
In response, Obi, Otti, and other stakeholders formed a parallel faction. On September 4, 2024, they set up a 29-member National Caretaker Committee led by Senator Esther Usman, with a mandate to oversee a democratic reconstitution of party leadership through congresses. However, Abure challenged the legitimacy of this new body in court, deepening the crisis.
According to the Otti-led bloc, the Nnewi convention violated a 2018 consent judgment and a 2022 peace accord brokered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which required the party to conduct ward-to-national congresses by 2024—a process Abure allegedly sidestepped.
Legal Victories, Political Defiance
Though Abure initially secured victories at the High Court and Appeal Court, the Supreme Court overturned these decisions due to jurisdictional issues. Yet the interpretation of this judgment has become another battlefield. While Abure insists it affirms his leadership, Obi, Otti, and their allies argue it nullifies Abure’s position and empowers the caretaker committee.
Further compounding the confusion, INEC reportedly derecognized Abure’s National Working Committee in June 2024. Yet Abure, undeterred, convened another NEC meeting and received a so-called “vote of confidence,” while threatening disciplinary action against Obi and Otti for holding a parallel NEC meeting.
A Tripartite Power Crisis
Today, the Labour Party is effectively split into three factions:
The Abure faction, which clings to legal technicalities and party statutes.
The LP-NCC faction, backed by Peter Obi and Governor Otti, which pushes for internal party reform and transparency.
The Apapa faction, a less vocal group now re-emerging to stake its claim.
While all camps invoke the Supreme Court judgment to validate their positions, none appear ready to compromise. This power tussle has paralysed the party and cast doubt on its ability to present a united front in 2027.
Governor Otti, speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting, revealed that Abure was offered the role of Board of Trustees Chairman in exchange for a graceful exit—a move he flatly rejected. Obi, aligning with Otti, called for a return to internal democracy: “Let’s do the right thing. Let’s start from the ward level to the national. Everybody is free to contest.”
Abure’s camp, however, remains belligerent. His spokesperson, Obiora Ifoh, dismissed the caretaker committee as “outlaws” and accused Obi and Otti of plotting a hostile takeover of the party.
The Bigger Picture: 2027 and Beyond
This leadership impasse has raised concerns about the viability of LP as a serious opposition force in 2027. The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim, warned: “Unless the opposition parties can put their house in order, it will be difficult for them to convince Nigerians to vote for them.”
Despite the ongoing chaos, some voices remain hopeful. Chief Peter Ameh of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) said: “I see an end to the trouble bedevilling the LP. The Supreme Court judgment has set the pace. All the party needs now is to follow.”
But with the party deeply fractured, and egos on all sides refusing to budge, that end remains elusive. What’s certain is this: without a credible, transparent, and inclusive resolution process, the Labour Party may lose not just its leaders, but the trust of the very electorate it once inspired.
Reference
2027: Labour Party’s Leadership in Disarray as Chairmanship Crisis Deepens