Obi, Abure LP factions convene separate NEC meetings after s’court judgment

Julius Abure, the factional national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), and Peter Obi, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, have called for separate national executive committee (NEC) meetings.

The meetings, scheduled to discuss the future of the party, come after the supreme court’s judgment that nullified the verdict of the court of appeal.

The appellate court had recognised Abure as the national chairman of the party.

On April 4, the apex court set aside the judgment of the lower court and held that the issue of leadership is an internal affair of a party over which courts lack jurisdiction.

On the heels of this development, Obiora Ifoh, the party’s national publicity secretary, announced Abure’s meeting in a statement on Monday.

He said the meeting is currently taking place at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.

In contrast, Obi, alongside Alex Otti, governor of Abia, called for a stakeholders’ summit at a different venue scheduled to hold on Wednesday, April 9.

Obi and Otti issued the invitation for a stakeholders’ engagement in a terse statement on Monday.

“The two leading figures of the Labour Party, the 2023 presidential flag bearer Peter Obi and the sole state governor of the party, Alex Otti of Abia State, have summoned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Abuja on Wednesday, April 9, 2025,” the statement signed by Ibrahim Umar reads.

Umar said the NEC meeting would be followed by an interactive town hall engagement at Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

He added that key stakeholders, including “the vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 election, serving and former senators, and LP candidates from the 2023 election” would attend Wednesday’s meeting.

When TheCable reached out to Ifoh, he said the NEC meeting organised by Obi and Otti is “unlawful”.

“It is an unlawful NEC. The proper LP NEC meeting is ongoing now,” he said.

Both factions of the party have claimed victory since the apex court’s ruling.