By Abiola Olawale
An internal crisis rocking the Labour Party has continued to deepen as the Julius Abure-led faction of the party has declared that the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi will not receive his faction’s support for his presidential bid for the 2027 general elections.
This is as the faction cited “strategic repositioning” and “party unity” as key reasons for opposing Obi ahead of the 2027 general election.
Recall that Abure has been reportedly close to FCT minister and former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. In the course of the internal squabbles facing LP, photographs of both men in a meeting surfaced on social media. The photo which went viral was interpreted by some as Wike’s efforts to “use Abure to undermine Labour Party ahead 2027.”
The factional National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led LP group Abayomi Arabambi, made this known on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Lunchtime Politics.
Arabambi also took a swipe at the acting National Chairperson of the Labour Party, Nenadi Usman, accusing her leadership of allegedly conspiring with Obi to destabilise the party.
He said: “We are going to do our 2027 without Peter Obi; he will not have our ticket.
“Our plan is to get rid of these elements- people who are just an epitome of political extremism. We don’t want them in the Labour Party.
“Now that they said they are going to ADC, we wish them well. Obi has one leg in the Labour Party, one leg in the PDP, and one leg in the ADC.
“If he believes he has that proficiency on his own to have seven million votes in the 2027 general elections, we advise him to pronounce his departure from the Labour Party.
“The momentum in 2023 was not because of Peter Obi, but because of EndSARS. Obi was just a man who came to whip as a result of Nigeria’s tiredness of the scandalous administration of Buhari during the EndSARS.
“He only found the Labour Party as that vehicle that can provide that change, and he was just opportuned to be the head.”
The New Diplomat reports this comes after the Labour Party found itself in a crisis since the 2023 general election.
The post-election tensions boiled after the Abure-faction held a National Convention in Nnewi, Anambra on March 27, 2024.
The convention was swiftly dismissed by the leadership of the LP, including Obi, Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party, the only elected Governor under the party’s umbrella.
The development became a legal matter and went up to the Supreme Court.
The apex court, in its ruling set aside a Court of Appeal decision recognizing Abure.
With that development, the coast was clear Usman’s led LP, which described the ruling as a nullification of Abure’s tenure.
