The Labour Party faction loyal to Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has called for reconciliation and unity in the party following Wednesday’s judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise the Senator Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee.
The Interim National Chairman of the faction, Usman, made the appeal in a statement issued by her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa, describing the ruling as an opportunity to heal internal divisions rather than deepen the crisis.
The conciliatory move came hours after the embattled factional National Chairman, Julius Abure, vowed to appeal the judgment, insisting that the decision contradicted the April 2025 verdict of the Supreme Court on the party’s leadership dispute.
Abure, in a statement by the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the Abure-led National Working Committee would challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal, describing it as a misinterpretation of the apex court’s judgment and an intrusion into the internal affairs of the party.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court held that Abure’s tenure as national chairman had elapsed and consequently ordered INEC to recognise the caretaker committee headed by Usman pending the conduct of the party’s national convention.
Reacting to the judgment, the Otti-backed faction welcomed the ruling but urged restraint, dialogue, and reconciliation among all tendencies within the party.
While acknowledging the long and contentious legal battle, the faction cautioned against triumphalism.
“We received with profound joy and relief the judgment of the Federal High Court, which ordered the INEC to immediately recognise Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership as the only valid, authentic, and legitimate leadership of the Labour Party.
“Although the journey to this point was protracted, difficult, and at times turbulent, the Labour Party urges its members and supporters not to celebrate with triumphalism. Rather, this moment should be embraced as a solemn opportunity for genuine reconciliation.
“For us, it is a no victor, no vanquished moment. Let it be clearly stated: there is only one united and indivisible Labour Party in Nigeria. This judgment must mark a new beginning anchored on unity, healing, and collective progress,” the statement read.
The party specifically appealed to aggrieved members, including those affected by the ruling, to embrace dialogue.
“Accordingly, the Labour Party calls on all members who may feel aggrieved by the current state of affairs, including those against whom today’s judgment was delivered – to sheathe their swords and embrace dialogue in the supreme interest of the party.
“We sue for peace, plead for dialogue, and seek sincere reconciliation. There is enormous work ahead in rebuilding the Labour Party into a strong, credible, and virile opposition platform in Nigeria, a task that can only be accomplished in an atmosphere of unity, cohesion, and mutual respect,” Usman stated.
As part of efforts to restore harmony, the Interim National Chairman announced plans to set up a reconciliation mechanism.
“In furtherance of this commitment to peace and reconciliation, the party shall immediately constitute a Truce and Reconciliation Committee mandated to engage all aggrieved members and restore lasting harmony within the party,” she said.
The party also urged INEC to comply fully with the court’s directive.
“Furthermore, as a law-abiding institution and a major stakeholder in Nigeria’s democratic process, the Labour Party calls on INEC to end all unnecessary distractions by fully complying with today’s judgment and according Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership the formal recognition clearly and unambiguously directed by the court,” the statement said.
The judgment follows months of intense leadership tussle within the Labour Party, sparked by the party’s National Executive Committee’s decision at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, to remove Abure as national chairman and to constitute a 29-member caretaker committee led by Usman.
That meeting was hosted by Otti and chaired by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
In April 2025, the Supreme Court set aside an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal which had recognised Abure as national chairman, holding that appellate courts lacked jurisdiction to determine the leadership of a political party and that such matters were internal affairs.
PUNCH.
