…Current crisis could shape party’s electoral fortunes in 2027 – Analysts
The future of Nigeria’s major opposition party, the Labour Party (LP), may be in serious danger as the current leadership tussle threatens its survival and can significantly impact its performance in the upcoming elections if not properly managed, political pundits have warned.
Although over the years the party has always been engulfed in internal wrangling with factions competing for its soul, the emergence of Peter Obi in 2023 was able to bring sanity and calmness with which the LP was able to make a good showing during the 2023 general election across the country.
But with the current situation, it is glaring that the leadership tussle if not checked was capable of significantly impacting the party’s internal cohesion and external perception and survival.
Observers say the current struggle for control and influence among key figures and stakeholders has led to a climate of uncertainty and instability, which may make it difficult for the LP to pull a strong showing in the off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo State this year.
Last week, the internal crisis took a new turn after a stakeholders’ meeting in Abia State elected a 29-member caretaker committee saddled with the task of repositioning the party and mending fences.
Nenadi Usman, a former senator, who represented Kaduna South senatorial district from 2011 to 2015 and former minister of Finance, was appointed the caretaker chairman of the party and head of the committee, while Darlington Nwokocha, former deputy minority leader of the Senate, was elected the secretary.
Read also: Labour Party: Obi, Otti dump Abure, appoint new national officers
Usman was appointed amid opposition from some aggrieved members and charged to organise a national convention from the ward to the national level.
Notable figures such as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, his running mate, Datti Baba Ahmed, and Victor Umeh, a senator from Anambra State were in attendance.
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti supervised the event.
However, it appears her appointment has widened the gulf within the LP, as the controversial former chairman, Julius Abure and his faction have rejected Usman’s appointment and committee.
Part of a communiqué after the event stated, “The committee has the responsibility to ensure that ward and local government and state congresses are conducted all over the country, which will culminate in a national convention where the party will elect new leaders and the National Working Committee.
“The party was concerned that INEC, which has the legitimacy of monitoring the activities of political parties, didn’t monitor the convention that returned the National Chairman.
“You journalists know that on two occasions, INEC has said that LP has no leadership. So we can’t leave the vacuum. We want to elect a leadership that would be recognized by INEC.”
However, Abure, along with Umar Farouk, the party’s national secretary, and Kennedy Ahanotu, the national youth leader, were absent from the stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, in which Usman emerged.
The Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) swiftly rejected the outcome of the meeting, calling it null and void.
In a statement by Obiora Ifoh, the faction’s national publicity secretary, they criticised Otti’s involvement, accusing him of overstepping his boundaries and lacking the authority to convene such a meeting.
Ifoh further argued that the caretaker committee was not recognised by the party’s constitution or Nigeria’s electoral laws.
He said: “The so-called meeting in Umuahia is a charade, a waste of time and resources of Abia people. As clearly stated in our previous statement, the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, and others who converged on Umuahia have no power within the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act and even within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convene any meeting of the party.
“As we speak, there is no communication whatsoever from INEC to the party as regards any objection to the conduct of the National Convention.
“We challenge Alex Otti to produce the official letter addressed to him from INEC on the subject matter. There is no vacuum in the leadership of the party.
“Consequently, the so-called caretaker committee set up by the governor of Abia State is not known to the constitution of the party and can best be described as a department in the Abia State Government House.”
Genesis of LP’s current crisis
The LP has not known peace since after the 2023 general election in which it surpassed the expectations of many Nigerians, largely because of the influence of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his Obidient movement.
But the gains recorded in that election was cut short with key leaders fighting to control the structure of the party few months after.
Julius Abure, the factional chairman, is the man behind the storm, with several chieftains calling for his removal.
Some of the party’s members, led by a former deputy national chairman of the party, Lamidi Apapa accused Abure of forgery and fraud.
The Lamidi faction went on to obtain a court order from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court restraining Abure from parading himself as the party’s chairman, while it took over the LP Headquarters in Abuja.
Abure later contested the court ruling at the appeal court and won.
The LP crisis reached its peak when the national chairman was arrested by the police in Benin City, Edo State, in February over allegations of forgery and illegal possession of firearms.
At some point, the party’s leader, Obi stepped in, and requested that an audit of the party’s finances be conducted.
The crises in the party took a new turn in March when the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Joe Ajaero demanded the resignation of Àbure over similar allegations along with allegations of party dictatorship.
The bone of contention was a shady national convention which the NLC’s political Commission accused Abure of planning in order to serve his interest.
According to the Labour union, which claims ownership of LP, the convention was supposed to include all of the party’s stakeholders as contained in a peace accord signed by both parties before the general election.
Members of the NLC went further to picket the national secretariat of the party and passed a vote of no confidence in Àbure. They accused Abure of financial rascality and disdain for their president, Ajaero, while waving various placards amid solidarity songs.
Abure nonetheless held the national convention in March at Nnewi, Anambra State, where he was reinstated as the national chairman of the party despite calls from many quarters, including its members at the National Assembly and Obi himself to postpone the event until a wider stakeholder engagement had been established.
Many stakeholders had wished that such convention, intended to be a significant assembly of party members following the 2023 general election, where stakeholders would discuss the future of the LP amidst leadership crises, defection rumours, merger talks, and more, ultimately resulted in serving the interest of the few.
Many people within the party accused Abure of organising a national convention with predetermined outcome to return all exco who worked with him.
Speaking on why he did not attend the convention in Anambra, Obi had said when the leadership of the party approached him regarding the convention, he advised them to consult key stakeholders first before proceeding with the event.
“When the chairman approached me about the convention, I appealed to him to consult all stakeholders, starting from Governor Otti, vice-presidential candidate, Datti, to senators, House of Reps members, gubernatorial candidates, and all other groups.
“It is documented for us to have a properly organised convention, starting with congresses, because we have to organise ourselves at the grassroots, where we have problems. It is after we organise ourselves that we can go into the convention,” he said.
Also speaking, Yunusa Tanko, spokesperson of the Labour Party (LP) campaign organisation in the 2023 election, lamented that the national convention was supposed to serve as an avenue to strengthen the party’s structure by mobilising members from ward level to local government, up to national level. He said that unfortunately, it failed to serve that purpose.
State of affairs
For now, the division within the LP has escalated after the controversial national convention, pitching many stakeholders, chieftains and members against the Abure’s faction.
The Nigeria Labour Congress leadership is also bent on removing Abure from office and would do anything to achieve that. They accused him of personalising the party and corruption. However, the growing influence of the NLC has not gone down well with some key leaders in the Apapa-led group.
Abayomi Arabambi, the Publicity Secretary of the group, said the party cannot be hijacked by the labour body and accused the NLC chairman, Joe Ajaero of nursing presidential ambition.
Similarly, Kehinde Edun, legal adviser of the group accused Ajaero of being behind the current crisis, stating that even though they do not agree with Abure, the NLC was not sincere.
But there appears to be a general consensus among party members at all levels that the LP should move away from Abure’s controversial convention with an inclusive one that would reposition the party to be competitive and able to compete across the country rather than a section.
Furthermore, the lack of a clear direction about accepted leadership at the national level have also affected many state chapters. For now, many LP’s state chapters are polarised into factions.
In some states, like Lagos, many members are saying the state chairman’s tenure has expired; they are seeking for a new state congress to be conducted to bring in a new executive.
Many political analysts are of the view that how the party manages to address its current challenges and present a compelling vision for the future will ultimately shape its electoral fortunes in the years to come.
Tayo Ogun, a party chieftain of the party, accused the party leaders of sell-out to the ruling party ahead of future polls, noting that the current crisis was self –imposed and came about because of greed of some leaders.
“What is happening is that some people don’t want to see peace in LP because they know it can be a threat to them. A lot of these crises are instigated by the opposition to frustrate our chances in the elections coming.
“These guys are paid to endless cause confusion within the LP and there appear no hope if something urgent is not done. I agree even the people there are all fighting for their pocket, is it by force to be national chairman?” he said.
Abure’s faction fight back
Meanwhile, Abure’s faction has dismissed criticism and outrage against the controversial national convention and leadership of Abure.
They said most of the people fighting Abure and condemning the Nnewi convention had no stake in the party and were bent on bringing down the party.
The faction has also vowed not to recognise nor work with Usman-led 29 member caretaker committee chosen to restructure, mend fences and organise congress from the ward to the national level.
Speaking to BusinessDay Friday, the Deputy National Youth leader of the party, Barry Johnson, said the inauguration of the Usman’s led committee was in violation of the party’s constitution and would not be recognise by the faction.
Johnson pointed out that Abure remains the truly legal LP’s national chairman.
He said INEC was duly informed of the Nnewi convention and dismissed the Abia State gathering, warning that it would lead to deeper crisis in the party.
According to him, “Abure had the interest of the constitution of the party, the Electoral Act and the constitution of Nigeria, meaning that every requirement requested by the Electoral Act was given opportunity in hosting that convention.
“The report of the convention was submitted to INEC two weeks after, Abure came out as the national chairman and for your information; this is Abure’s first tenure he only finished the tenure of the former chairman and we have already a court judgement from the federal High Court in Abuja validating the trial court result election declaring Abure the national convention.
“If you go to the INEC portal till today, Abure remains the national chairman. So, the constitution of the party has not given anybody opportunity to call a NEC meeting or NWC meeting without the authority of the national chairman or secretary of the party.”
Also speaking to BusinessDay, Moshood Salvador, chieftain of the party, said Abure remains the only national chairman of the party, noting that the last week gathering in Abia State was illegal and not known by the party’s stakeholders.
Salvador, a former member of the House of Representatives, said it was imperative that everyone is carried along in building a future for the party.
“Abure remains the national chairman of the party for now, no matter what they are saying,” he said.
Also speaking recently, the National Youth Leader of LP, Kennedy Ahanotu, ascribed the clamour against the leadership to the competing interests of those looking to reap rewards for their own selfish endeavours.
Read also: Leadership crisis rocks Labour Party as Abure rejects Otti’s 29-man reconciliation panel
Analysts react
Many pundits have called for more collaboration, understanding and sacrifice among leaders of the LP to resolve the current internal wrangling if the party is to survive.
With the off-cycle elections in Edo and Ondo approaching, many pundits have advised the chieftains to think beyond immediate gains and work for consensus and make necessary sacrifices that will restore peace to the party if they hope to stand a chance in the next elections.
Sam Amadi, director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, said the LP crisis was predictable, noting that the party has structural, institutional and cultural defects.
“You can see that before Peter Obi, the party had over 20 or 30 cases in court. The party never had a proper convention. Abure will succeed someone either by death or by issues. Some of the candidates who lost in APC or PDP ran to LP and bought their tickets.
“So, the party had no capacity to be properly organised and then Peter Obi happened, things moved so fast and they did not have the time to reorganise themselves and structure it. And Peter Obi lost the election and somebody else became the President.
“You know, what happens with these small parties is that the leaders see them as their daily meals and so each time there is effort to remove them, there is a problem,” Amadi said.
Kunde Okunade, political analyst, wondered why Abure was not interested in organising an inclusive national convention if he was truly interested in wining national elections.
According to him, “In a political a party you need people to win election, the more people the higher your chances, so why would you be afraid of carrying everyone along when at the end of the day you would still need their support to win election if you are sincere.
“A party should not be a family affair, your gang or group only affair, it should be for everyone.”
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