The Labour Party (LP) faction, headed by Julius Abure, has revealed its plan to expel its presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, Peter Obi, from the party over his involvement in an opposition coalition launched recently to remove President Bola Tinubu from office in the next election.
The faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, disclosed this when he appeared on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ on Tuesday, July 8.
According to him, Obi’s continued engagement with the coalition while still identifying as a Labour Party member is unconstitutional.
Recall that as part of strategies to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections, leading opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Rivers and Kaduna state governors, Rotimi Amaechi, and Nasir El-Rufai, respectively, and Obi, led others to launch the coalition in Abuja last week.
The coalition finally settled for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a key opposition party that will challenge Tinubu’s APC in the 2027 elections.
Speaking on his membership in the coalition, Obi had said he was serious with the group and would run for the presidency in 2027.
Reacting, the LP spokesperson said the party would convene a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting where Obi would be expelled.
He said it was unconstitutional for Obi to belong to two political parties simultaneously, adding that the former Anambra State governor had been deceived into joining another group and would remain there.
Arabambi said the NEC would recommend Obi’s expulsion, to be ratified at the party convention according to the party’s constitution.
“Obi will be expelled from our party. He is no longer a member. It is not within his right to claim, ‘I am still a member of the Labour Party,’ and at the same time be hobnobbing with what we call the ‘yahoo yahoo’ coalition. We are not going to accept that,” Arabambi stated.
He criticised the notion that Obi built the Labour Party, arguing that the party’s integrity and goodwill propelled Obi to prominence. He attributed the presidential candidate’s popularity to the frustration of Nigerians with past administrations.
Arabambi emphasised that the party made Obi. He accused him of starting the current crisis within the party.
He also criticised Obi for alleged authoritarian tendencies, saying he wasn’t fit to lead the party if he couldn’t work with members.
The LP has been experiencing a prolonged leadership crisis, with multiple factions and individuals – including Abure, Nenadi Usman, and Lamidi Apapa – each claiming to be the legitimate leader of the party.
The ICIR reports that the Supreme Court, in a judgment on Friday, April 4, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which recognised Abure as chairman of LP.
The apex court, in a unanimous judgment, held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to declare Abure as the national chairman of the LP.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance