The ongoing leadership crisis in the Labour Party (LP) escalated on Monday as two opposing factions convened separate National Executive Council (NEC) meetings to discuss the party’s future following last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
The faction led by Barrister Julius Abure called for an NEC meeting that is currently taking place at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the faction led by Mr. Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti has scheduled their NEC meeting for Wednesday, April 9th, also in Abuja.
The Obi/Otti faction, represented by the Caretaker Team under the leadership of Senator Nenadi Usman, issued a statement about their meeting.
The statement, signed by Ibrahim Umar, spokesperson for the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), said: “The two leading figures of the LP, the 2023 Presidential flagbearer Peter Obi and the sole state governor of the party, Dr. Alex Otti of Abia State, have summoned the NEC of the party in Abuja on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.”
The statement further explained that the NEC meeting would be followed by an interactive TownHall Engagement with major stakeholders and other party organs at Transcorp Hotel.
“The stakeholders listed to attend the meeting include the Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 election (Senator Datti Baba Ahmed), serving and former senators and senatorial candidates of LP in the 2023 election, serving and former members of the House of Representatives and LP candidates in the 2023 election, all members of the National Caretaker Committee (NTC), all former governors’ candidates who are still in the party, representatives of NLC/TUC Political Commission, and all members of the former LP National Working Committee (NWC),” the statement read.
The Obi/Otti faction emphasized that this meeting was in response to last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which effectively ended the Julius Abure-led NWC.
The Supreme Court had ruled on the leadership dispute within the party, declaring that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had overstepped its jurisdiction by recognizing Abure as the party’s National Chairman, as the leadership issue was deemed an internal matter for the party to resolve.
The judgment, delivered by a five-member panel, noted that Abure’s tenure had expired.
The court ruled in favor of the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and another party member, while dismissing the cross-appeal filed by Abure’s faction.
In response, Abure contended that the Supreme Court’s ruling underscored that lower courts should not have intervened in the internal leadership of a political party.
He argued that the court’s ruling effectively struck out Senator Nenadi Usman’s appeal at the Appeal Court and the Labour Party suit at the trial court.
Following the ruling, both factions of the Labour Party interpreted the judgment as a victory for their respective sides.
The Abure-led NEC meeting is expected to issue a communiqué that may include a proposal to suspend Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti for alleged anti-party activities, asserting that Senator Nenadi Usman is inconsequential as she was never a member of the party.
