The Labour Party (LP) leadership has issued a strongly worded statement accusing its former presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, of urging party members to vote for another party in the forthcoming August 16, 2025 bye-election.
National Chairman of the party, Barr. Julius Abure, described Obi’s reported directive as “misleading, mischievous, and delusional,” urging members to disregard it and throw their support behind Labour Party candidates.
“It is unfortunate that Obi has turned himself into an irony and a paradox in Nigeria’s political space… he is now an ‘Uber’ politician, unwilling to take a position and stand by his decision,” Abure said.
The statement further accused Obi of fueling internal crises in the Labour Party, referencing a controversial expanded stakeholders meeting in Umuahia on September 4, 2024, which the party leadership labelled as illegal. Abure alleged that Obi, alongside Abia State Governor Alex Otti, co-funded the party’s internal wrangling and even led protests against the LP at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters.
According to Abure, Obi’s “desperation to control the soul of the party” has undermined its unity, despite receiving “so much goodwill” from the leadership in the past.
The LP reiterated that its candidates will be on the ballot in the August 16 bye-election and urged members and supporters to remain focused.
“We encourage our candidates, members, and supporters across all the states where the bye-election is holding to be focused… Nigerians have come to know who Peter Obi really is,” Abure concluded.
