2027: Labour Party strips Obi, Otti of automatic tickets

• Youth leader alleges illegality, urges prosecution of Obi
• Only INEC can decide, says Tanko

Labour Party (LP) has cancelled the automatic ticket it previously reserved for its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, for the 2027 election.

This was disclosed in the resolution of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, yesterday, in Abuja.

Meanwhile, the National Deputy Youth Leader of the party, Barry Johnson, has described the emergence of Nenadi Usman as the party’s national caretaker chairman in Umuahia as unconstitutional.

But party chieftain, Yunusa Tanko, said only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could decide whether the recent intervention in the party by Otti and Obi is legal or otherwise.

LP has reportedly thrown open all its tickets, from the presidency to the Houses of Assembly, to all qualified Nigerians.

This is coming after some leaders of the party, including Obi and Otti, met in Umuahia, the capital of Abia, last week to appoint a 29-man caretaker committee to lead the party in the interim.

The committee, chaired by former Minister of Finance, Usman, would midwife an election of new leadership in 90 days.

However, in a communiqué signed by the National Chairman of the Party, Julius Abure; and National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim; the NEC nullified the decision taken at the Umuahia meeting convened by Otti. It maintained that there was no vacuum in the leadership of the party after “conducting its National Convention in line with its constitution, the Electoral Act and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on March 27, 2024, at Nnewi Anambra State.”

It consequently called on the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, to stop supporting Otti to further cause damage to the party.

“NEC in session also notes that Otti had constantly quoted the INEC Chairman as saying that the tenure of the officers of the party had expired, which the governor said necessitated the meeting and setting up a caretaker committee.

“Based on the foregoing, therefore, NEC in-session, hereby, calls on all members, supporters and the general public to disregard the so-called meeting and its outcome,” the Abure-led NEC stated.

CONDEMNING Obi and Otti for their roles in Usman’s emergence, Johnson called for the arrest of Obi, saying Otti’s humility covered him.

Johnson told The Guardian, yesterday, that Otti and Obi’s claim of forming a caretaker committee was illegal and unconstitutional since it was not provided for in the party’s constitution.

According to him, Abure remains the national chairman of the party and any action taken by Obi and Otti is null and void.

He called on law enforcement agencies to take action, adding: “Nobody is bigger than Nigeria. Nobody is bigger than the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Responding on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’, yesterday, Tanko said the illegality of the meeting could only be decided by INEC.

“It is left for INEC to look at the legality and make pronouncements. So, I have nothing to do with that at the moment because they are the electoral umpire. They know what the law says. They should make the pronouncement,” Tanko said.