Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, on Thursday said the Labour Party remains open to the return of embattled former National Chairman, Julius Abure, and his loyalists ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Otti spoke at the inaugural meeting of the party’s National Working Committee, held at its national headquarters in Abuja.
Reacting to speculations over the possible reintegration of Abure and members of the dissolved National Working Committee, including state chairmen aligned with him, Otti said reconciliation efforts were already yielding results.
He said, “No, if you followed the convention, you would discover that over 25 state chairmen of the Abure group that you mentioned actually attended the convention. In fact, they were actually returned as members of the newly elected National Working Committee.
“That was also because part of the charge we gave the National Working Committee to do is to reconcile and bring back as many people as possible. You can see that it is happening. So, in this disagreement, we declared that there was no victor, no vanquished. Everybody is a winner.
“So we will keep our doors open, even for Abure to return to the party that he has worked for. The disagreement is over. We are now reconciling and reintegrating people to ensure that the party emerges stronger.”
The governor expressed confidence in the capacity of the newly elected leadership, led by National Chairman, Nenadi Usman, to stabilise the party and prepare it for upcoming political contests.
“As an observer, I like to say that the meeting went very well. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman who will lead this party for the next four years. We have absolute confidence in her capacity and ability to lead, just like she did in the last two years as national caretaker chairman.
“I also like to congratulate the other 33 members of the National Working Committee for their level of trust. I do not doubt that as events unfold, including the primaries that will be held within the next month, they will also show their dexterity and capacity in management of the affairs of the party,” he stated.
Otti also dismissed the Ibadan opposition summit, stressing that the Labour Party was not part of any agreement to adopt a single presidential candidate ahead of the next election cycle.
He said, “Unfortunately, we are not part of the summit because we were holding our national convention then. We are not part of this agreement. So we are not bound by what happened there.”
Otti’s conciliatory stance comes amid lingering tensions within the party following the leadership tussle that pitted Abure against the Usman-led caretaker committee.
The crisis deepened after the Court of Appeal affirmed Usman’s leadership, a decision Abure rejected, insisting it was unacceptable and vowing to challenge it at the Supreme Court.
He maintained that party leadership disputes are internal matters beyond judicial interference and argued that the ruling did not align with established legal precedents.
The appellate court’s verdict upheld an earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, which recognised Usman as the legitimate leader of the party.
The turning point came when the Independent National Electoral Commission formally recognised the Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the authentic leadership of the party, acting on the directive of the Federal High Court.
The move followed weeks of intense internal wrangling, parallel leadership claims and protracted court battles that have trailed the party since the 2023 general elections.