Labour Party Crisis Deepens As Usman Faction Slams Abure

The Senator Nenadi Usman-led faction of the Labour Party (LP) has strongly criticised Barrister Julius Abure for allegedly parading himself as the party’s National Chairman despite a Supreme Court judgment and the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the contrary.

In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja and signed by the faction’s Interim National Secretary, Darlington Nwokocha, the Usman-led interim executive described Abure’s actions as misleading and unacceptable.

Naija News reports that the faction urged the Prosecutor-General of the Federation to fast-track action on recommendations for Abure’s prosecution over alleged impersonation and other sundry offences.

The statement referenced the Supreme Court judgment of April 4, 2025, as well as INEC’s “clear and unambiguous” position, which, according to the faction, effectively stripped Abure of any claim to the office of National Chairman.

The Usman-led group insisted that despite these developments, Abure continued to present himself publicly as the party’s leader, an action it said undermined the rule of law and the integrity of the party.

The statement was issued in reaction to an earlier comment by Abure, in which he argued that INEC’s refusal to upload the particulars of LP aspirants for the February Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections, as well as the Supreme Court ruling, were being misinterpreted.

Usman said, “The Labour Party is not for sale. Mr. Abure and his associates should seek legitimate means of livelihood rather than attempting to commercialize political structures.

“It is also instructive from INEC’s statement that Mr. Abure and his drowning disciples of political party merchants have metamorphosed into vexatious and abusive litigants, having instituted over twenty (20) court cases against INEC and the Labour Party leadership, led by Distinguished Senator Nenadi Usman and Distinguished Senator Darlington Nwokocha, across various courts in the Federation and the FCT in particular.

“This conduct represents a blatant abuse of court processes and a desperate attempt to plunge the Labour Party into deeper crisis and roll back democratic gains.

“It is therefore delusional, and a clear manifestation of political amnesia, for Mr. Abure to claim that the new leadership of INEC has ‘moved on’ with his impersonation of the office of National Chairman of the Labour Party.

“This claim was made in response to a statement where INEC merely drew his attention to subsisting Supreme Court and Federal High Court judgments that had sacked him.

“In compliance with these judgments, INEC rightly refused to issue access codes for upload of the names of individuals he had allegedly defrauded by illegally collecting monies from them under the false promise of making them candidates in the FCT elections.

“We call on the Prosecutor-General of the Federation to expedite action on recommendations for Mr. Abure’s prosecution for his alleged offences.

“As reaffirmed in the communiqué of our National Working Committee, the Labour Party remains united, indivisible, and committed to building a Nigeria founded on justice, equity, and good governance, under the leadership of His Excellency Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, (National Leader), Distinguished Senator Nenadi Usman (National Chairman), and Distinguished Senator Darlington Nwokocha (National Secretary).

“We urge our members, especially our youths and women participating in the ongoing registration and congresses, as well as aspirants preparing for the 2027 elections, to remain steadfast. The future of a new Nigeria lies firmly in our collective resolve.”