Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has urged embattled former National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, and his loyalists to return to the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Otti appealed on Thursday at the inaugural meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), held at its national headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking on the possible reintegration of Abure and members of the dissolved NWC, including state chairmen aligned with him, Otti said reconciliation efforts were already yielding results.
Governor Otti emphasised that everyone is a winner, noting that the party’s doors are open to anyone who wants to return.
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.”
Otti also 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.
He stressed, “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.”
Speaking about the opposition summit in Ibadan, Otti said the Labour Party was not part of any agreement to adopt a single presidential candidate ahead of the next election cycle.
He added, “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.”