The seemingly interminable leadership crisis rocking the opposition Labour Party, LP, may not end soon if current developments are anything to go by.
On Monday, just four days after the Supreme Court judgement on the matter, the two main factions of the party called separate National Executive Council (NEC) meetings to plot their paths to the definite resolution of the crisis.
The Daily Trust reported that while the Julius Abure-led faction clutched to the leadership rudder and summoned a NEC meeting currently ongoing at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, the Peter Obi/Governor Alex Otti-faction has scheduled theirs for Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in the nation’s capital
The Obi/Otti group, which was led by the Senator Nenadi Usman-Caretaker Team, gave notice of its meeting via a statement, on Monday. The statement was signed by the spokesperson of the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), Ibrahim Umar.
Umar said : “The two leading figures of the LP, the 2023 Presidential flag bearer Peter Obi and the sole state governor of the party, Dr Alex Oti of Abia State, have summoned the NEC of the party in Abuja on Wednesday,y, April 9, 2025.”
The statement further informed that the NEC meeting shall be followed concurrently by an interactive Town Hall Engagement with major stakeholders and other organs of the party at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.
According to Umar, “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 House of Representatives and LP candidates in 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, all members of the former LP National Working Committee (NWC).”
It would be recalled that the Supreme Court, last Friday, sacked Barrister Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
Despite the apex court’s judgement sacking him and his National Working Committee, NWC, Abure held on to his position tenaciously, saying that the apex court never terminated his tenure as Chairman.
The Obi/Otti Faction justified their action, declaring that their proposed meeting is in furtherance of the Supreme Court ruling.
It would be recalled that a five-member panel of the Supreme Court had, last Friday, in a unanimous decision, held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to pronounce Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
It held that issue of leadership was internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction and noted that Abure’s tenure had since expired.
The court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and one other, and held that it was meritorious. The apex court subsequently dismissed the cross-appeal filed by the Abure Faction for lacking in merit.
But Abure picked up the gauntlet speedily, maintaining that the Supreme Court, in its judgement, insisted that the lower courts should have declined jurisdiction and shouldn’t have made pronouncement on the leadership of a political party and, therefore, struck out Senator Nenadi Usman’s appeal at the Appeal Court and the LP suit at the trial court.
Interestingly, both factions held to their positions, maintaining that the judgement favoured them.
