Labour Party Leadership Tussle Deepens As Abure Ally Brands Nenadi-Usman ‘Impostor’

A chieftain of the Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party (LP), Barry Johnson, has described the party’s Interim National Chairman, Nenadi Usman, as an impostor, intensifying the leadership crisis rocking the opposition party.

Johnson made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking with journalists amid growing tension following the takeover of the party’s National Secretariat by Usman’s camp after a recent court ruling.

Naija News reports that the development has further exposed the deep divisions within the Labour Party, with rival factions laying claim to leadership based on separate court judgments.

Johnson accused Usman of acting unlawfully by assuming control of the party’s national secretariat.

“We will not take laws into our hands but we will show them that Nigeria belongs to all of us,” he said while talking to Daily Trust.

The Labour Party chieftain insisted that the country had moved past what he described as political impunity.

“Nenadi-Usman is an impostor. Nigeria has come to a time where it will not accept political criminality,” Johnson stated.

He argued that the court ruling cited by Usman’s camp declaring her chairman was flawed and inconsistent with previous judgments.

Johnson noted that Julius Abure also obtained favourable rulings from both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, affirming his leadership of the party.

“The judgment that Nenadi-Usman got from the Federal High Court in Abuja said she’s a chairman. It means that judgment is wrong,” he said.

“Julius Abure also had a judgment in this same Federal High Court and Court of Appeal that he’s the chairman.”

He further accused Usman’s camp of forcibly taking over the party’s secretariat.

“What Nenadi Usman is doing at our National Secretariat is breaking and entry, stealing,” Johnson alleged.

Naija News reports that the Labour Party has in recent months been embroiled in an internal leadership tussle, with rival factions seeking legal backing and political legitimacy ahead of forthcoming general elections.