A claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed Nenadi Usman as the chairperson of the Labour Party has gone viral online.
An X user, @TheoAbuAgada, posted the claim with the caption:
“Peter Gregory Obi’s ally, Nenadi Usman, has been confirmed as the authentic Chairperson of the Labour Party by INEC. “All of a sudden”. Peter, until this moment, has refused to resign from the Labour Party. If this does not tell you anything, I don’t know what else will. I repeat, Peter is not with the coalition and he is working to bring Tinubu back.”
The post had generated over 150 reposts and more than 500 likes as of August 1, 2025.
Another X account, @ADCNews_, also posted the claim with the caption:
Just In. INEC has confirmed Sen Nenadi Usman as Acting Chairman of Labour Party. At this rate. Tinubu is confused on where to set his trap. ADC or LP
The post had generated over 500 reposts and more than 2,000 likes as of August 1, 2025.
CLAIM
INEC confirms Nenadi Usman as Labour Party chairperson.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Since the conclusion of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, the Labour Party (LP) has been mired in a prolonged leadership crisis, largely revolving around competing claims to the chairmanship of the party.
Julius Abure, who led the party through the 2023 general elections, has faced opposition from various internal factions, especially the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which accused him of financial impropriety and high-handedness. These disputes culminated in the controversial national convention held in Anambra in March 2024, where Abure wasre-elected as chairman, a move rejected by several party organs.
To stabilise the party and restore credibility, a coalition of LP stakeholders, including the NLC and some state chapters, appointed Nenadi Usman as chairperson of a caretaker committee in late 2024.
Usman was seen as a neutral figure capable of uniting the fractured party. Her emergence received a significant boost in April 2025 when the Supreme Court ruled that Nigerian courts lacked jurisdiction to decide internal party leadership matters, a verdict that effectively voided Abure’s standing and empowered the coalition-backed caretaker leadership.
Despite the judicial ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not publicly confirmed or published Nenadi Usman’s name as the authentic chairperson of the Labour Party, as required by law.
INEC’s role in party leadership matters is administrative and reactive. It can only recognise and publish names submitted to it in line with party constitutions and after the proper legal and procedural processes.
As of August 1, 2025, the commission’s official records still reflect Julius Abure as the National Chairman, and no official bulletin or document affirms Nenadi Usman as the recognised national chairperson of the LP.
When contacted by The FactCheckHub, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, debunked the claim and confirmed that Abure remains the chairman of the party.
“The news [that Nenadi Usman has been confirmed as LP chairman] is not true. There’s nothing like that. There’s no confirmation. The situation remains the same. To be sure, go to our website, click on political parties — the names of the chairmen and secretaries are all there. What you find there is what the situation is at the moment,” he said.
VERDICT
The claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed Nenadi Usman as the chairperson of the Labour Party is FALSE, as findings showed that Julius Abure still remains the recognised chairperson of the party as of August 1, 2025.
This report is republished from the FactCheckHub.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.