The former National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has predicted that the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will perform below his 2023 showing in the forthcoming election.
Naija News reports that Abure said this in an interview with Punch, while discussing Peter Obi’s chances in the 2027 election.
According to Abure, Peter Obi has squandered his goodwill, human capital, resources, and mismanaged all the gains that contributed to his strong showing in the 2023 presidential election.
Abure claimed that Peter Obi’s departure from the Labour Party had cost him the organisational structure and campaign machinery that helped him secure more than six million votes in the last presidential election.
He said, “Let me say clearly that Obi will not record the successes he recorded in the 2023 general election. That is because he has squandered his goodwill, human capital, resources, and mismanaged all the gains he had in 2023.”
Abure also ruled out support for Peter Obi in the 2027 election, expressing readiness to align with other major candidates in the election.
He noted that his decision to support any candidate would depend on the outcome of a pending Supreme Court case involving the Labour Party’s leadership, his political interests and ideology, and the candidate’s acceptability.
He said, “As for me, we are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide our case, and if the judgment is not coming before the end of this November, we will rationalise the offer of whoever wants our support.
“However, it must tally with our interest and ideology, and he must be a sellable candidate. Once these are settled, our faces will be everywhere. I am talking about the same faces that took Peter Obi everywhere in 2023.
“We are open to working with any of the major candidates, but as former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, said, ‘I know whom I will not hand over to. But I don’t know who I will hand over to.’ So, similarly, I am very sure that I wouldn’t support Peter Obi for the 2027 general election. But I am open to an alignment with others.
“Yes, obviously the NDC is not included. I don’t see any reason to support Peter Obi again. I will not. And I am saying this with conviction and without any fear of contradiction. However, as of now, I am not in talks with any candidate yet. This is because it’s not just about me. It’s also about my followers and their interests.”
Abure also accused Peter Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti of undermining the party’s leadership, alleging that they dismantled the structure from the ward to the national level.
He stated, “Right now, they are standing by the structure of the party, the same one Otti and the illegal leadership he forced on the Labour Party sacked from wards, states to national level. What these people did to this party was a big disservice. But we know that I was their target.”
Speaking on the dispute with Peter Obi and the prolonged leadership crises in the Labour Party, including disagreements over the conduct of its national convention and control of its organisational structure, Abure argued that the crisis exposed the former Governor’s leadership shortcomings.
He said, “Obi’s behaviour in the Labour Party is now what people are using to assess if he can truly lead the country. This is because if you can’t lead a micro, there is no way you can lead a macro.”
Asked whether Peter Obi would enjoy the freedom he had under his leadership, Abure said the situation in the NDC was different, arguing that its national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, remained firmly in control.
Abure added that Dickson had learnt from the Labour Party crisis and was determined to prevent a similar situation in the NDC.
He stated, “No way! Let Obi compare the freedom and leverage he enjoyed under our leadership to what he is experiencing in the NDC; he already knows the difference. You can see that Senator Dickson is fully in charge and he’s not giving up the party’s leadership.”
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