Factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has advised the leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) not to surrender excessive control of the party to supporters of Peter Obi, the NDC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Abure gave the warning on Monday, June 8, while reacting to reports of internal disagreements within the NDC over the sharing of elective positions and party structures.
The Labour Party leader said the decision by the NDC leadership, led by Senator Seriake Dickson, not to concede all positions demanded by Obi’s supporters was a prudent move that reflected lessons drawn from the Labour Party’s experience after the 2023 elections.
According to him, many politicians who secured positions on the Labour Party platform eventually turned against the party leadership instead of helping to strengthen the organisation.
“They say history usually repeats itself. Senator Dickson and Co have seen their trajectory and learnt from what happened to us,” Abure said.
He alleged that a number of politicians who emerged through the Labour Party later aligned with Obi and became involved in efforts that contributed to leadership disputes within the party.
Abure said the Labour Party leadership made significant concessions before the 2023 elections to accommodate Obi and many of his associates.
“We only looked at his body language and obliged most of his supporters with tickets. Most of the tickets were given for free because we believed we were investing in those persons,” he stated.
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The Labour Party chairman further claimed that several elected officials backed moves to challenge the party leadership after benefiting from the party’s platform.
“All those elected under the party, Obi took them to fight the leadership of the party,” he said.
Abure argued that political parties must ensure a balanced distribution of influence and positions to avoid future internal crises.
“It is very good for Seriake Dickson not to have given Obi supporters all they needed in the NDC. He needed to bring his own people so that when the chips are down, he will also have people that will speak and defend him,” he added.
The Labour Party factional chairman also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of playing a role in the party’s post-election leadership crisis.
He alleged that some party leaders accepted claims that the tenure of the party’s executives had expired and used that as a basis to challenge the existing leadership.
“The leaders, particularly Peter Obi and Alex Otti, decided to take over the leadership of the party,” Abure alleged.
He said his comments were prompted by questions from Nigerians seeking to understand how the Labour Party handled its relationship with Obi and his supporters during the 2022 and 2023 election cycle.