Abure-led Labour Party faction holds NEC meeting, charts strategy for 2027 elections

Julius Abure, factional national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), has presided over a meeting of the national executive council (NEC) in Abuja.

According to the faction, the session was attended by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Datti Baba-Ahmed, former vice presidential candidate.

The meeting, which took place at the party’s national secretariat, held amid long-standing disputes over the the 2024 national convention in Nnewi, Anambra state.

The Nnewi convention had returned Abure as chairman and triggered multiple litigations, rival factions, and competing claims from senior figures, including Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate, and Alex Otti, the Abia state governor.

In July, Obi, Otti and other party leaders rejected the outcome of the Nnewi exercise and constituted a 29-member caretaker committee, chaired by Nenadi Usman, the former minister, to conduct fresh congresses and a new convention.

The disagreement deepened a leadership crisis that has lingered for months, with both camps relying on court orders and constitutional provisions to defend their positions.

Speaking after the meeting on Friday, Abure said NEC members drew guidance from the supreme court pronouncements which affirmed that the management of internal party affairs falls outside judicial intervention.

He said the NEC is empowered to administer the party between conventions and to fill existing vacancies.

“The NEC has the responsibility and power to manage the affairs of political parties between national conventions as well as to fill vacant positions,” Abure said.

“It is for this reason that we called this meeting so that we can do the needful, resolve all our crises, differences and strategically position the party for the 2027 election.

“There is no gainsaying that the fact that there will be a beginning of the existence of the Labour Party.

“That we have come this far is a powerful statement that we have made. Whether we like it or not, LP has become a reference point in the political firmament of Nigeria.

“We have done so and reinforced the supremacy of political parties in Nigeria. The Labour Party has set the pace and standard that parties are bigger than individual persons in the party.”

Abure thanked INEC for deploying officials to monitor the meeting, saying their presence validated the process.

He said the absence of INEC officials during the Nnewi convention contributed to the controversies that followed.

Abure said INEC’s leadership had brought “equity, justice, fair play and peace” to political parties facing internal conflicts.

Citing the supreme court judgment, Abure said political parties are “corporate entities with their constitution, rules, regulations and guidelines which are binding on members”.

He added that those who join the party “freely” must adhere to its internal dispute-resolution mechanisms.

After reviewing the issues surrounding the Nnewi convention, the NEC ratified the list of national officers elected on March 27, 2024, including Abure as chairman and Umar Farouk Ibrahim as national secretary.

The council also filled vacant positions and authorised the chairman and secretary to convene a special convention if required.

The NEC further approved plans to hold ward, local government and state congresses across the country.

The delegation at the meeting consisted of officials from the litigation and election and party monitoring (EPM) departments, led by Rakiya Dattijo.