A fresh wave of tension has hit the Labour Party as the faction led by Julius Abure issued a 48-hour ultimatum to former presidential candidate Peter Obi, demanding his resignation following his involvement in a newly launched opposition coalition.
The ultimatum, announced Thursday, comes a day after Obi was seen alongside several prominent opposition figures at the unveiling of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja.
The coalition has adopted the ADC as its platform as it gears up for the 2027 general elections.
While some figures like former ministers Rotimi Amaechi and Abubakar Malami formally resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) before joining the ADC, Obi has yet to officially renounce his Labour Party membership.
In a statement issued by party spokesman Obiora Ifoh, the Labour Party made it clear that it had no affiliation with the emerging coalition.
“Peter Gregory Obi has received a 48-hour ultimatum to formally resign his membership of the Labour Party having officially joined the coalition.”
“The Labour Party is not part of this arrangement and disassociates itself from its agenda,” the statement declared.
Ifoh further accused Obi of holding covert meetings aimed at convincing members to defect.
“We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. While some have resisted, we will not hesitate to demand the resignation of anyone aligning with him,” he said.
He emphasized that the Labour Party would not tolerate divided loyalty or political opportunism.
“The Labour Party is not available to people with a dual agenda. You cannot be in one party during the day and in another by night. The party must be built on loyalty and discipline, not deception and political convenience,” Ifoh stated.
Questioning the motives and credibility of the new coalition, he added, “Seventy percent of our population are young people who rejected the old order and rallied around a movement for real change. What we see in this coalition is a desperate attempt by familiar faces to return to power through the back door. It is not the future the youths voted for.”
Despite the internal conflict, the Labour Party reiterated its commitment to the core values that propelled it into national prominence during the 2023 elections and called on its members to stay focused and resist political distractions.
