We’ve got his back in coalition talks, says Usman-led caretaker committee
The warring groups in the Labour Party (LP), yesterday, disagreed on an alleged plot to expel the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, from the party.

The sin of the former governor of Anambra State, according to a splinter group of the party controlled by Julius Abure, is his decision to join other politicians in the coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

However, the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the party, Sen Nenadi Usman, dismissed the threat, saying the LP had no intention of expelling Obi.

Usman’s Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa, said those threatening to expel Obi were individuals sacked from the leadership of the party by the April 4 judgment of the Supreme Court.

He added that there were plans to convene a kangaroo meeting with the aim of sowing confusion and mischief in the ongoing coalition efforts involving Obi.”

Calling the Abure group “political jesters unknown to the party but parading themselves as members”, he said the “impostors, acting on behalf of shadowy interests, intend to purport an expulsion of Obi from LP, are laughable”.

The committee urged Nigerians to disregard “the desperate rantings of these meddlesome interlopers, whose only mission is to undermine Obi’s credibility and towering influence” in the coalition-building process to rescue Nigeria.

“For the avoidance of doubt, LP, through a widely circulated statement issued on May 25, 2025, made it categorically clear that Obi’s involvement in the coalition talks enjoys the full backing and blessing of the leadership of the party.”

“The media and the general public are hereby enjoined to ignore these comedians of politics, who are merely performing for their paymasters. They are well aware that the sun is fast setting on their charade, and their relevance, anchored solely on attacking Obi, will evaporate the moment he completes his signified intention to join the newly birthed platform,” it stated.

The Usman-led NCC’s reaction, yesterday, followed the comment of the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure group, Abayomi Arabambi, on plans to expel Obi for joining ADC.

Speaking in an interview with Channels TV, Arabambi claimed Obi’s decision was “unconstitutional”, as no one could be a member of two political parties at the same time.

He said: “We are convening a NEC meeting where he will be expelled. It is unconstitutional for you to belong to two political parties at a time.”

Incidentally, the expulsion threat came on the heels of a pending 48-hour ultimatum earlier issued to Obi by the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) to resign from the LP.