Peter Obi vs APC: The Labour Party’s Dilemma over National Assembly Candidates

Patrick OdeyJune 7, 2023

3 minutes read

The Labour Party (LP) is a social democratic political party in Nigeria that emerged as the third force in the 2023 presidential election, scoring over six million votes. However, the party is facing a leadership crisis over the choice of candidates for the presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly.

Newsflash Nigeria reports that some supporters of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, are alleging that they are backing Muktar Aliyu Betara and Abdulaziz Yari for the Speaker of House of Representatives and Senate President, respectively.

These supporters claim that Obi and Baba-Ahmed are opposed to the candidates endorsed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Tajudeen Abass and Godswill Akpabio, who are also members of the Labour Party.

A source within the Labour Party told The Guardian that Obi and Baba-Ahmed had met with the party’s members-elect and asked them to vote against Abass and Akpabio. The source said that Obi and Baba-Ahmed accused Abass and Akpabio of being loyal to the APC and working against the interests of the Labour Party.

The source said: “First, we met with Datti, and he said unequivocally that we can’t vote Tajudeen Abbas, Akpabio, or any other candidate the APC is supporting. He told us that Abbas was endorsed by the APC to suppress him, and Benjamin Kalu was endorsed to suppress Alex Otti in Abia State. The meeting ended in a stalemate. The venue was Chopsticks.

“Another meeting was held on Monday, around Zone 5. Obi was present. He said he was endorsing Yari for Senate President and Betara for Speaker and compelled all LP members-elect to vote for Betara and Yari.

“Ideologically, he’s forcing us. If that is the case, there’s nothing new about LP. He was able to get one person away from the Abbas project. It is a female. He wants to force us to do what he wants. But no way!

“They plan to call us for another meeting this coming weekend. I think on Sunday. It will be to say that LP has decided to vote for Yari and Betara. He’s telling us that the party is supreme. But how do we support someone that is rebellious against his party?

“If he calls for division, we’ll have the majority, but he won’t do that. At the meeting we held, some of us said we are adults, and we should be allowed to make our choices. So, we won’t back down. How can Peter Obi, that people are shouting his name up and down as a democrat, now turn to be undemocratic?”

However, this claim has been dismissed by a leading LP member and spokesperson of the House Minority Caucus, Victor Ogene. Ogene said that the meeting was convened by the party’s national chairman, Julius Abure, and not Obi. He also said that Obi did not mention any candidate by name, but only advised the members to be united in their decision.

He said: “The insinuation that Obi, national leader and presidential candidate of LP, is coercing members-elect to vote for a particular candidate in the Speakership race is a lie from the pit of hell.

“Yes, as a caucus, we met last night, but not at Obi’s behest. The national chairman sent out the notice of meeting, and Obi was only invited as national leader of the party.

“After virtually all 27 members-elect present at the meeting had taken turns to speak, Obi, who was the first to leave because of another engagement, advised members to ensure, as much as possible, that they are united in arriving at a decision regarding who to vote for as presiding officers.

“Not once, throughout his about 15-minute speech, did Obi mention any aspirant by name. On the contrary, he urged the members to continue talking among themselves, under the guidance of the national chairman and the caucus leader.”