KEY POINTS
- Abia Governor Alex Otti and the Labour Party national leadership rejected Julius Abure’s sale of 2027 nomination forms.
- LP spokesman Ken Asogwa said only Nenadi Usman’s leadership can issue valid forms after court rulings recognized her as the chair.
- Abure’s faction insists it remains in charge pending Supreme Court determination of the leadership case.
Abia Governor Alex Otti and the Labour Party’s national leadership on Sunday rejected former chairman Julius Abure’s sale of 2027 nomination forms, branding the documents “worthless paper” and accusing Abure of defying court rulings that recognized Nenadi Usman as the party’s interim chair.
National Publicity Secretary Ken Asogwa warned aspirants and supporters against obtaining any forms from Abure, saying only the LP’s official secretariat in Utako, Abuja can issue legitimate documents for elective positions.
Now the dispute pulls the Labour Party deeper into the kind of factional fight that has historically dogged Nigerian opposition platforms, with two parallel structures competing for INEC recognition as primary season approaches.
‘Worthless paper’
Specifically, Asogwa framed the Abure forms as fraudulent, telling potential aspirants that obtaining nomination papers from any source other than the Usman-led secretariat amounts to falling for political fraudsters.
“Let it be stated clearly and unequivocally that Nenadi Usman is the National Chairman of the Labour Party, and all legitimate nomination forms for every elective position ahead of the 2027 general elections can only be obtained through the official national secretariat of the party,” Asogwa said.
Indeed, the LP leadership also accused Abure of criminal impersonation for continuing to parade himself as national chairman, and questioned why his sales activities appeared concentrated in Abia State, warning Otti would not yield to “blackmail, intimidation or street-corner political theatrics.”
Court precedent
Moreover, Otti’s Chief Press Secretary Ukoha Ukoha said both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled in favor of the Usman-led leadership, with INEC complying with the court directive.
Furthermore, Ukoha said Abure’s persistence amounts to contempt of court. He argued that INEC cannot legitimately monitor any electoral process the Abure faction runs, leaving any candidate emerging from that camp in legal limbo.
Additionally, photographs that went viral on social media showed Abure presenting Labour Party nomination forms to former national vice chairman Ceekay Igara in Abia, triggering the latest round of public reaction from the Otti camp.
Abure faction pushes back
Meanwhile, the Abure camp insists it remains the legitimate leadership pending Supreme Court resolution. Spokesman Obiora Ifoh said the faction will continue functioning as a political party until the apex court closes the case.
“Our matter is in court. Until the Supreme Court decides the actual leadership, we believe that the Nnewi Convention that elected Abure and the NWC, which has not been discharged, is still running,” Ifoh said.
However, Igara, who received forms from Abure, defended the issuance as a precautionary move pending the Supreme Court outcome. He said the 33 state congresses already conducted under Abure cannot simply vanish if the apex court eventually rules in his favor and primaries have closed.
Ifoh dismissed the contempt allegation, comparing the Abure sales to similar factional form sales by other Nigerian political parties. He also confirmed he is contesting the House of Representatives seat for Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency in Abia ahead of 2027.
Together, the dual sales, the parallel leadership claims and the Supreme Court overhang sketch a Labour Party walking into 2027 with two competing tickets in many constituencies. Whether the apex court rules in time to deliver a single nominee per seat will determine whether Otti’s faction or Abure’s camp owns the LP on the next ballot. Yet for now, every aspirant approaching either secretariat does so without the certainty Nigerian opposition politics has been craving.
