There’s the tendency for people to think that Labour Party (LP) – Nigeria – is a young party. But that’s really not the case. The party was formed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in 2002 as the Party for Social Democracy (PSD), and its name was officially changed to Labour Party (LP) in 2003. The motto of the party is “Forward Ever”.
According to its website, “the vision of the Labour Party is to urgently transform all facets of the Nigerian nation with a view to: Ensure job-led growth and transform the economy. Overcome under development, vicious backwardness and the paradox of poverty in a wealthy Nation. Redress the extremes of affluence and deprivation. Guarantee social justice for all. Cultivate a new Nigerian and African Personality. Build a knowledge-based society.” It also specifies its mission as the establishment of “a new social contract that must bring together committed and altruistic political actors for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.”
Furthermore, it states: “In furtherance of our mission, the Party will embark on programs and policies aimed at but not, limited to the following: Programs and policies aimed at ensuring that national cohesion, peace, security, stability and prosperity shall be the collective concern of all because most Nigerians would be made to realistically feel, believe and see that Nigeria cares, inspires and exists for all. All processes aimed at entrenching a culture of democracy and development politics. All processes aimed at contesting elections. Transforming the Party into a vanguard for the defense and sustenance of democracy.”
One of the first curious things about LP was that though it was formed during the tenure of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as President of the NLC (1999 to 2007), he did not contest on the platform of the party in 2007 when he sought to be Governor of Edo State. Rather, he contested on the platform of Action Congress (AC). The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Professor Osorheimen Osunbor, was declared winner of that election. Oshiomhole successfully challenged the declaration, and on 11 November, 2008, he assumed office as Governor of the state. He won a second term election in 2012, and was in office till 12 November, 2016.
The first major politician to launch LP into national prominence is Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. On 14 April, 2007, he contested, on the platform of the party, the governorship election of Ondo State against the incumbent Dr. Olusegun Agagu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mimiko was declared the loser in the election, but that electoral verdict was overturned on 23 February, 2009, when an Appeal Court ruling, citing irregularities in the 2007 election, replaced Agagu with Mimiko as the legitimate Governor. LP also won some legislative seats in that election. On 20 October, 2012, Mimiko contested again on the platform of LP for a second term, and again, he won. However, in a surprise move, Mimiko returned to the PDP in 2014.
Before then, as articulated by ABTC NG on 22 February, 2022, “Mimiko’s first political appointment saw him move to the position of commissioner of health and social services in Ondo State from 1992 till 1993 when a coup terminated the third democratic republic. Right after resumption to democratic government in Nigeria, Mimiko again served as a commissioner of health in Ondo State from 1999 to 2002. In 2003, he was appointed secretary to the Ondo State Government. He held this position till July 2005, when he was appointed as the federal minister of housing and urban development.”
In spite of Mimiko’s return to the PDP, LP was becoming increasingly popular in the Southwest; and when some disaffected members of the PDP in Oyo State in 2015 and the APC in Osun State in 2023 were seeking succour and brighter electoral prospects, it was to LP that they turned.
Unfortunately, its National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, died on 29 December, 2020. According to Vanguard, the eulogy of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), read in part: “We received the sudden death of Alhaji A.A. Salam with utter shock and total disbelief. A.A. Salam was a major pillar and voice who formed the CUPP and remained committed to its ideals until he breathed his last. A very accommodating, intelligent, experienced, generous and patriotic leader, A.A. Salam was a true democrat and a fighter for justice. He was a father to all and always focused on anything he believed was right and just. … Alhaji Salam was a man with a good spirit, caring, loving and always positive. … We have lost a giant in the political space of Nigeria.”
The death of Abdulsalam led to the election of the National Secretary at the time, Barrister Julius Abure, as the new National Chairman, by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on 29 March, 2021, for a four-year term. With the ascension of Abure, Lamidi Apapa became his Deputy National Chairman (South).
Peter Obi joined LP very close to the primaries of the party for the 2023 elections, and he put up a stunning performance in the presidential election of 25 February. However, the fortunes of the party declined sharply and LP won only one governorship seat in the state elections that held two weeks after.
Meanwhile, Abure’s administration was bedevilled by various allegations of misdeed, including the betrayal of the party’s foundational principles, the use of the party for personal gain, and financial impropriety. Calls were therefore made, including by NLC, for his removal as National Chairman. Different court cases were also instituted across the aisle. The most notable of these is the Supreme Court judgement of 4 April, 2025, in which the Court held that leadership issues were internal affairs of parties and so courts had no jurisdiction over them. The Court therefore set aside the judgements of lower courts on the National Chairmanship of LP.
Lamidi Apapa responded as follows in a press conference: “Following the decision of the Supreme Court on setting aside all judgments that recognise the leadership of Julius Abure as National Chairman, I, Alhaji Bashiru Lamidi Apapa, who is the most senior Deputy National Chairman of our great party and in consonance with our party constitution’s Article 14(2)(a)(b) hereby take over the running of affairs of our great party with effect from today, Wednesday, the 9th day of April, 2025, in acting capacity.”
Senator Nenadi Usman, according to an 11 April, 2025 Arise News report declared: “It is with deep humility and a profound sense of responsibility that I accept the resolution passed at the NEC meeting [of 9 April, 2025], appointing me as the Acting National Chairperson of the Labour Party. I am grateful for the unanimous vote of confidence and for the trust you have placed in me to lead during this transitional period. We followed up this important milestone with a formal visit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where we presented the Supreme Court judgment affirming the legitimacy of our party’s leadership transition and communicated the outcome of our NEC proceedings.”
On 24 April, 2025, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, of the Abure faction, addressed a press conference in which he said: “The Supreme Court judgement delivered on the 4th of April, 2025, … actually reaffirmed the national convention of the party held on the 27th of March, 2024 at Nnewi. … [which duly elected] … in line with the internal mechanisms of the party, the current NWC (National Working Committee) of the party [chaired by Julius Abure] …” Ifoh also noted that the concept of an “expanded stakeholders meeting” which held on 4 September, 2024 and purportedly chose the Nenadi Usman “caretaker committee” was unknown to the constitution of LP, and was therefore illegal, and could at best be described as a mere “political jamboree”.
The press statement then warned: “Consequently, we admonish Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, and Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections, who are the protagonists of the current division in the party to hear the Supreme Court loud and clear.”
Moreover, in a 2 May, 2025 document titled “Resolutions Reached At The National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting Held On 02/05/2025 At The LP National Headquarters”, jointly released by Barrister Julius Abure, as National Chairman, and Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim, as National Secretary, included the following: “NEC reviewed the anti party activities of Dr. Alex Otti, the Abia State Governor and other erring members and consequently sets up a disciplinary committee as follows: Ayo Olorunfemi – Chairman, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim – Secretary, Kehinde Edun – Member, Dudu Manuga – Member, Callistus Ihejiagwa – Member. The committee is given two weeks to submit its report.”
In addition to the above-mentioned three claimants to the National Chairmanship of LP, there is the NLC which tries to exert proprietary influence on the party, but which meets resistance, because very many members of the union do not belong to the party. Just as it’s not clear who the National Secretary of PDP is, it’s not clear who the National Chairman of LP is. It was therefore not surprising for Governor Alex Otti, the only governor produced by the party in the 2023 election to give an ambivalent response to a question on whether he would remain in the LP until the 2027 elections.
Peter Obi’s commitment to the party is even more tenuous as shown in the following exchange between him and Charles Aniagolu of Arise News on 1 April, 2025:
Charles Aniagolu: “Are you going to stick with the Labour Party, given the disarray that’s in the Labour Party?
Peter Obi: “The disarray is caused by the government.”
Charles Aniagolu: “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter who caused it.”
Peter Obi: “No, no, no. That’s what I’m telling you.”
Charles Aniagolu; “Are going to stick …?”
Peter Obi: “Yes, I’m in Labour Party.”
Charles Aniagolu: “And are you going to stick with it?”
Peter Obi: “Well, I’m there. It’s not something I can tell you now. I’m there today, and as time goes on, Charles, if things change, I will tell you. I’m a member of Labour Party. And this is one of the things I told you I will do. I will make sure that parties work.”
Charles Aniagolu: “But the Labour Party, some would say, Labour Party isn’t working under you.”
Peter Obi: “It has nothing to do with under me. I’m not the one running the party.”
You can’t have two captains in a ship. So goes the naval proverb. Now, with four captains in the Labour Party’s ship, and with each captain with their own compass pointing in a different direction, how will it be determined which compass is pointing the right way? And what’s the fate of those onboard this drifting ship?
