The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has described the defection of its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the African Democratic Congress as a “blessing” and a long-awaited relief for the party.
Obi on Wednesday officially announced his exit from the LP, pitching his tent with the coalition-backed ADC, a move that has further deepened the crisis rocking the opposition party.
Reacting, the factional National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Obiora Ifoh, said the party neither regrets nor feels threatened by Obi’s departure, insisting that the former Anambra State governor had effectively left the party months ago.
In a statement on Wednesday, Ifoh said Obi’s defection only formalised what he described as a political separation that had existed since September 2024, amid protracted leadership disputes within the party.
“The leadership of the Labour Party took note of the defection of its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and a few of his supporters to the African Democratic Congress,” Ifoh said.
“We are, however, surprised that this move took so long because, for us, we had already parted ways with Peter Obi and some of his supporters in the National Assembly since September 2024.”
The Abure faction questioned the political value of Obi’s defection, describing his speech at the ADC event as uninspiring and lacking new ideas for Nigerians.
According to Ifoh, the party had repeatedly advised Obi and his loyalists to leave the LP if they could not align with the Abure-led leadership.
“We patiently waited for this day. The party is finally liberated by this defection, and as party leaders, we count it as a blessing,” he said.
He added that several lawmakers had earlier been suspended for alleged anti-party activities, noting that similar disciplinary measures were being considered against Obi before the intervention of “well-meaning Nigerians.”
The faction also accused Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, of fueling the internal crisis in the party, expressing surprise that Otti, who was earlier suspended, had yet to follow Obi out of the LP.
“We had expected Governor Otti to leave with his political leader. It is not too late for him to do so,” Ifoh said.
He further dismissed the significance of Obi’s defection ceremony in Enugu, claiming it was largely boycotted by prominent political and traditional institutions in the South-East.
“All that was on display were spent political forces who cannot win elections even in their wards,” he alleged.
Ifoh also claimed that Obi’s 2023 presidential ambition weakened the South-East’s influence in President Bola Tinubu’s administration, arguing that the zone suffered politically as a result of its support for the former LP candidate.
“He must be told that the South-East lost out completely in President Bola Tinubu’s government because they trusted and believed in him,” he said, citing what he described as inadequate ministerial slots and poor infrastructure allocation to the region.
Concluding, the LP spokesperson appealed to Nigerians to give the party another chance in future elections, admitting that presenting Obi as its presidential candidate in 2023 was a costly miscalculation.
“We plead for forgiveness from Nigerians. Time has shown that we made the greatest political mistake,” Ifoh said.
“We are already working towards presenting better prospects that we believe can help return Nigeria to its glorious days.”
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