Former National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has accused the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of failing to unite the party when it enjoyed widespread public support following the last general election.

Abure made the remarks on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, where he revealed that the party was liberal enough to offer the 64-year-old politician the presidential ticket for 2027.

“In March 2024, we gave Peter Obi the ticket for 2027. Was that not patriotic for the party? A reasonable person would put the house together and use that momentum of 2024 and carry it into 2027?” Abure said.

He also dismissed allegations of financial misconduct against his leadership, insisting that campaign donations were never paid into the Labour Party’s accounts.

“I want to say it clearly, even Aisha Yesufu, who was a signatory to that account, has come out twice to admit that no donations came to the party. Peter Obi wanted a separate account for his donations and his campaign and wanted some other people to administer it.”

”Because we were not interested in the money, we were more interested in winning the election and ensuring the success of the campaign. Therefore, the campaign funds were channelled into an account where Aisha Yesufu and Ighodalo were in charge, and they have since taken responsibility for it,” he said.

Abure further criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for recognising the group led by Senator Nenadi Usman on its official website, while alleging that Usman and her supporters unlawfully took over his office.

The former LP chairman had made similar allegations two weeks earlier during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he accused Obi and Otti of triggering the party’s leadership crisis by supporting the caretaker committee inaugurated in Umuahia.

According to Abure, the decision disrupted what had been a peaceful administration and laid the foundation for the prolonged internal conflict within the party. He also rejected suggestions that he had become an outsider in the Labour Party, describing Senator Nenadi Usman instead as the “interloper.”

The Labour Party has remained embroiled in a prolonged leadership dispute since the 2023 general elections, with rival groups laying claim to the party’s national leadership.

The crisis pits Abure against a National Caretaker Committee led by former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, with both camps pursuing separate legal and political battles for control of the party.

On January 21, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court reaffirmed the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision removing Abure as National Chairman and directed INEC to recognise Senator Nenadi Usman as the party’s legitimate leader.

Abure challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal. However, in a lead judgment delivered by Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi in April, the appellate court upheld the decision of the Federal High Court.

The Labour Party rose to national prominence during the 2023 general election, driven largely by the popularity of Peter Obi among young Nigerians. Obi secured more than six million votes in the presidential election, while the party also won the governorship election in Abia State.

However, President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the presidential election with over eight million votes.

As political alignments ahead of the 2027 general election continue to evolve, Obi has emerged as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and will face Atiku under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Tinubu of the ruling party.

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