The Labour Party has said its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, cannot return to contest the 2027 general election on its platform, describing it as not possible under its internal rules and electoral process.
The party’s interim national chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, spoke on Arise Television, where she explained that the Labour Party’s nomination process and membership register system make it impossible for new entrants to join at the last minute for elections.
According to her, the party closes its membership register ahead of primaries and submits it to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as required by law.
“Once we close the register 21 days before primaries, submit the register, the e-register to INEC, you can’t come from behind the door for us to register you and for you to contest the elections. That would be impossible, legally impossible anyway,” she said.
The Labour Party has faced internal leadership disputes since the 2023 elections, which saw Peter Obi emerge as its presidential candidate under the Obidient movement support base. The party, however, has continued to maintain that its structures and processes must be followed by all members.
In recent months, the party has also maintained that no aspirant will be given an automatic ticket for 2027, insisting that all candidates will emerge through its democratic processes and national convention.
The LP has been embroiled in a protracted leadership crisis since its strong 2023 outing.
The conflict, which crystallised around competing claims to the national chairmanship, pitted Usman’s caretaker committee against the camp of former national chairman Julius Abure, whose faction accused the caretaker group of an illegitimate takeover.
The Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that Abure’s tenure had expired, and a Federal High Court in Abuja subsequently sacked him and ordered INEC to recognise only Usman’s committee as the legitimate leadership pending a national convention.
Usman’s team thereafter took over the party’s national secretariat in Utako, Abuja, amid accusations of vandalism and document theft levelled against Abure loyalists.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja recently dismissed Abure’s challenge, unanimously affirming Usman as interim chairman and directing INEC to deal exclusively with her faction.
Abure has indicated he will appeal to the Supreme Court, leaving the legal dispute unresolved.
