The Labour Party’s interim national chairman, Nenadi Usman, has revealed that the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, risks being shut out of the 2027 presidential race on its platform due to strict electoral regulations governing party membership.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday, Usman explained that the party is bound by the Electoral Act to close its membership register 21 days before primary elections—a deadline that could legally prevent any late return or fresh registration.
According to her, once the register is sealed and submitted electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), no new entrant can be accommodated for the purpose of contesting elections.
“It would be legally impossible for anyone to join from behind and still contest once the register is closed,” she said, underscoring the rigidity of the law.
Despite the warning, Usman acknowledged Obi’s significant role in boosting the Labour Party’s performance in the 2023 general elections. She disclosed that Obi personally persuaded her and many others to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), driven by a shared belief in equity and fairness.
Usman noted that her exit from the PDP was influenced by the party’s failure to zone its presidential ticket to the southern region, a decision she described as unjust despite her northern background.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party continues to grapple with a prolonged leadership crisis that has weakened its structure and political influence since the last election cycle. The dispute, centered on competing claims to the national chairmanship, has pitched Usman’s caretaker committee against loyalists of former chairman Julius Abure.
Legal battles over the leadership tussle have produced mixed outcomes. While the Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that Abure’s tenure had expired, a Federal High Court in Abuja subsequently removed him from office and directed INEC to recognise Usman’s leadership pending a national convention.
The Court of Appeal later upheld this decision, affirming Usman as interim chairman and instructing INEC to engage solely with her faction. However, Abure has vowed to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court, prolonging uncertainty within the party.
The internal conflict has triggered widespread defections, reduced the party’s representation in the National Assembly, and eroded its grassroots support base. Obi himself cited the lingering crisis as a key reason for distancing from the party.
In response, Usman’s leadership has launched a membership revalidation exercise and zoned the party’s 2027 presidential ticket to the southern region—moves seen as efforts to rebuild and reposition the party ahead of the next general election.