The leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party has deepened, with the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee warning Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, his deputy, Ikechukwu Emetu, and key loyalists of former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to desist from actions capable of undermining the party, including plans to organise a parallel national convention.

The warning was issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, as tensions rise ahead of the 2027 general election.

Ifoh was reacting to moves by the Nenadi Usman-led faction of the party to hold a national convention on February 28, 2026, a development the Abure-led NWC described as illegal and futile.

The factional chairman of the party, Nenadi Usman, had while speaking virtually at the official inauguration of a steering committee chaired by the Abia State Deputy Governor, said her group had launched a nationwide membership revalidation and fresh registration exercise aimed at mobilising 10 million Nigerians.

Usman said the mobilisation drive was part of a broader effort to reposition and strengthen the Labour Party for what she described as “bigger responsibilities and opportunities” as the next election season approaches.

However, the Abure-led NWC dismissed the initiative, insisting that any parallel convention or registration exercise would amount to an exercise in futility.

According to Ifoh, Abure remains the authentic national chairman of the party and would deploy all legal means to protect the mandate of the current leadership.

“We would use all legal means. There can’t be any reaction from Governor Otti and his deputy, Emetu, because they know they are erring. These people are doing anti-party,” he said.

He accused the Abia deputy governor of double standards for agreeing to chair a rival steering committee.

“The Abia deputy governor, for instance, is in a situation where he was the one who conducted the convention that returned the Abure-led leadership to office at the national convention. You are the one who raised their hands up,” Ifoh said.

“Now, he is equally the one chairing the steering committee for another group whose emergence he didn’t oversee. Is that not purely anti-party? What we are saying in essence is that the party has moved on. What they are trying to do is to distract us from what we are doing.”

The LP spokesman also argued that recent court judgments, including those involving other opposition parties, had reinforced the position of the Abure-led leadership.

“I am sure you heard about the victory of the SDP at the Supreme Court last week. Was their case different from ours? The judgment emphasised again that you must respect the internal mechanism by which a party decides to run.

“These are the things we are talking about. The party has moved on. We are happy that the INEC has also complied with it,” he said.

Ifoh further claimed that Deputy Governor Emetu was acting under pressure from Governor Otti.

“We are aware that the deputy was only running an errand at that steering committee he chaired. There is no way he would say no to his boss in the office,” he alleged.

He warned that the Labour Party would not tolerate what he described as indiscipline and mutiny within its ranks.

“We are not in a Hobbesian society. If Otti wants to run for Labour Party chairman, he has to follow the due process. Every organisation has its laws and guidelines. You don’t wake up one morning and say you want to be the president of Nigeria. That is mutiny,” Ifoh said.

“So, let Otti drop his position, then come and apply to be the chairman of the Labour Party. It is not hard. We want to urge them to build the party. There is no need for this continuous wrangling,” he added. (The PUNCH)