The National Caregroad Committee (NCC) of the Labor Party (LP) said on Monday that the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, had the complete support of the camp to participate in the ongoing negotiations between some political parties to form a coalition before the 2027 surveys.
The NCC, headed by a former finance minister, Nenadi Usman, is the faction of the LP to which OBI and the governor of the state of Abia, Dr. Alex Otti belong.
The NCC support statement for OBI occurred just hours after the National Labor Committee (NWC) of the party, led by Mr. Julius Abure, took a different position, stating that OBI did not obtain the approval of the party to participate in any coalition meeting.
The faction was also emphatic in saying that he did not support any coalition conversation, and added that any movement to drag the LP to such an agreement would be an effort in uselessness.
With respect to the party ticket, the camp directed by Abure clarified that Obi would not be an automatic candidate, since he was open to all Nigerians to compete.
“First, although we do not oppose anyone who runs under the platform of the Labor Party in the 2027 general elections, we must make it categorically clear that the party has a long time rule on how its candidates will emerge and the automatic ticket is not one of the routes,” said National Advertising Secretary, Mr. Obiora Ifoh.
The discordant songs of the two fields occurred approximately 48 hours after OBI himself told a group of young voters that he would play the 2027 presidential elections on the LP platform.
“I will still run in the Labor Party. I am a member of the Labor Party,” he said while answering a question.
Referring to Abure already those in his camp as “former members” of the party, the special advisor (media) senior to Usman, Mr. Ken Eluma Asogwa, in a statement, said the NCC “expressly approved and backed by Peter Obi's participation in the continuous patriotic convergence of well -communicated Nigerians.”
He pointed out that the objective of the conversations, which was to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, had the total support of the NCC.
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The camp added: “It is worth reiterating that OBI has constantly maintained that his interest lies only on a coalition focused on eradicating hunger, insecurity and poor governance, a vision that is directly aligned with the founding principles and aspirations of the Labor Party.
“Therefore, it is disconcerting that the people who have been shown the exit door for their antiparty activities now seek to question a movement so clearly rooted in the national interest.
“One wonders who is the agenda that Julius Abure and his cohorts have really been advancing. Is it that they disagree with OBI and the Labor Party in which Nigeria currently faces an unprecedented crisis that requires collective action to save?
“While the Labor Party welcomes the movement of the Coalition promoted by the Nigerian people, we also reaffirm the unequivocal right of Peter Obi to dispute the 2027 elections under the labor party platform, if the current coalition efforts do not materialize.”
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