The leadership crisis rocking Nigeria’s Labour Party deepened on Monday after the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee dismissed reconciliation efforts by Abia State Governor Alex Otti, branding the move insincere and badly timed.
The Abure faction said the dispute over the party’s leadership was still before the courts and accused Otti of playing a central role in triggering the crisis now tearing the party apart.
According to The PUNCH, the party’s national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, rejected Otti’s call for unity and questioned the sudden urgency of his appeal.
“We are not interested in any move by Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti to reconcile the party because he was the one who brought the crisis to the party in the first place,” Ifoh said. He described the recent court ruling cited by Otti’s camp as merely a judgment of first instance, arguing that reconciliation should wait until the appeal process is concluded.
Ifoh also dismissed celebrations by Otti’s allies as premature, insisting that “the battle is not over” and predicting that the Abure faction would ultimately prevail.
The hardline response underlined the depth of division within the party, even after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) moved to recognise the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee following a federal high court judgment. The Abure camp has condemned INEC’s action as hasty and prejudicial.
The rejection of reconciliation came hours after Otti publicly lamented the exit of the party’s former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, describing his departure as a major setback. Otti spoke in Abuja at a meeting attended by members of the party’s board of trustees, leaders of the caretaker committee and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.
At the meeting, Otti said the new leadership intended to pursue reconciliation and rebuild internal cohesion after its court victory. He announced plans to establish a reconciliation committee and appealed directly to Abure and his supporters to return to the party.
“If they abide by the rules of the party, we will be happy to see them back,” Otti said. He also ruled out participation in the forthcoming FCT council elections and dismissed the idea of joining any broader opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 polls, describing Labour as “already a coalition” of workers and progressive-minded Nigerians.
Otti praised INEC for updating its records to reflect the caretaker committee, calling the move compliance with the court’s judgment.
However, fresh criticism emerged from within the party. Marcel Ngogbehei, director general of the Labour Party’s directorate of mobilisation and integration, accused both Otti and Obi of failing to stem the crisis. In a statement issued in Abuja, Ngogbehei argued that Otti, as the party’s most powerful elected official, squandered the momentum of the 2023 elections by backing a caretaker committee.
“Caretaker committees are not neutral instruments; they are factional weapons,” he said, warning that their use entrenched parallel authorities and fuelled a proliferation of court cases.
Ngogbehei also faulted Obi for not using his influence to broker a compromise, saying the former presidential candidate’s reluctance to intervene weakened party cohesion at a critical moment.
With reconciliation overtures rebuffed and rival factions entrenched, the Labour Party’s leadership crisis appears far from resolution, raising fresh questions about the opposition’s readiness as Nigeria moves closer to the 2027 general elections.
