The internal crisis within Nigeria’s opposition Labour Party (LP) escalated sharply on Monday as the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) formally rejected a reconciliation proposal from Abia State Governor Alex Otti, branding the move insincere and premature.
The rejection, conveyed through the party’s National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, underscores the deepening rift despite a recent Federal High Court ruling and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision to recognise a rival caretaker committee.
According to Ifoh, Governor Otti, whom the Abure faction holds responsible for initiating the current leadership crisis, lacks the moral authority to broker peace. “We are not interested in any reconciliation move being proposed by Governor Alex Otti because he is largely responsible for the crisis facing the party today,” Ifoh stated.
He further argued that Otti’s call for unity was ill-timed, coming before the exhaustion of all legal avenues. The Abure camp is appealing a lower court judgment that recognized the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee. “What we witnessed was a decision of a court of first instance. Why can’t he wait for the outcome of the appeal?” Ifoh questioned, predicting the Abure leadership would ultimately prevail and describing the opposing faction’s celebration as a “pyrrhic victory.”
Governor Otti’s reconciliation effort followed his meeting in Abuja with stakeholders including the Board of Trustees, the Usman-led caretaker committee, and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). During that meeting, Otti described the departure of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as a “significant blow” and announced plans to establish a reconciliation committee to welcome back members, specifically urging Abure’s team to “sheathe their swords.”
The immediate trigger for the public clash is INEC’s compliance with the court order by replacing the Abure-led NWC with the caretaker committee on its official portal—a move the Abure faction previously criticised as rushed.
Otti also clarified the party’s political strategy, ruling out participation in the upcoming Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council elections and any alliance with a broader opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections. “Labour Party is already a coalition, a coalition of Nigerian workers and progressive-minded citizens. We have no intention of joining any other coalition,” he said.
The standoff highlights the unresolved leadership dispute that has fragmented the party, which emerged as a major national force during the 2023 elections. With legal proceedings ongoing and both factions claiming legitimacy, the LP’s capacity to present a united front for future elections remains in doubt. The next key development will be the appeal court’s ruling on the leadership case, which either party may further challenge to the Supreme Court.
