A faction of the Labour Party (LP) led by Julius Abure has accused the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, of betrayal, following a leadership dispute involving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The faction expressed its frustration after INEC refused to recognize Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman. This stance was made clear in a counter-affidavit filed by the electoral body in response to a suit by the Abure-led faction, which is challenging its exclusion from uploading party agents’ names for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
INEC argued that Abure’s tenure as LP national chair had expired in June 2024 and did not acknowledge the March 2024 National Convention that re-elected him.
This development has left the Abure-led faction feeling abandoned by Obi and Otti, who they believe should be defending the party at this critical juncture.
Obiora Ifoh, spokesperson for the faction, expressed the group’s disappointment in a statement on Wednesday, accusing Obi and Otti of turning their backs on the party.
“They ought to know that the Labour Party is going through these challenging times simply because of its role in defending both leaders during the 2023 general election,” Ifoh said.
He further pointed out how the party had accommodated both Obi and Otti after they were denied tickets in their former political parties, yet now, in the party’s time of need, they had remained silent.
“What a shame, what a betrayal,” Ifoh lamented.
This internal rift comes in the wake of Nenadi Usman, a former senator, being appointed as the national chair of the LP caretaker committee during a party stakeholders’ meeting convened by Otti. The meeting was attended by Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, LP’s vice-presidential candidate in 2023.
The unfolding situation signals further tensions within the Labour Party, as it struggles to navigate both internal and external challenges ahead of critical governorship elections.