The leadership crisis in the Labour Party (LP) took a comic twist yesterday, as ousted national chairman, Julius Abure, rolled out “free nomination forms” despite multiple court rulings affirming Senator Nenadi Usman as the party’s legitimate leader.

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, and the party’s national leadership, however, rejected the sacked chairman’s ‘kind gesture’, accusing him of acting in defiance of court rulings and the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The development, which would have plunged the party into deeper confusion ahead of the 2027 general elections, failed as aspirants determined to contest under LP trooped to the party secretariat, where Usman is calling the shots, to get authentic forms.

In what many party insiders described as a “comic political drama bordering on defiance,” Abure announced that aspirants across the country could freely download and submit nomination forms through his faction’s structures, insisting that he remains the party’s authentic national chairman.

The Usman-led leadership swiftly dismissed the move as “illegal, deceptive and desperate”, warning aspirants against “worthless forms being circulated by impostors.”

The latest confrontation comes months after the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed Abure’s appeal challenging the legitimacy of the Usman-led caretaker leadership of the party.

Yet, in defiance of the rulings, Abure has continued to parade as national chairman, rolling out a nationwide “free forms initiative” for aspirants.

“This has moved from politics to outright comic desperation,” a senior party source aligned with the Usman leadership said. “You cannot be removed by the courts, rejected by the party, and still behave as though you are running a parallel republic.”

The party accused Abure of attempting to lure unsuspecting aspirants into a process that could ultimately collapse legally, warning that only forms issued through the party’s recognised national secretariat in Utako, Abuja, remain valid.

According to the party, Abure’s latest actions are part of a frantic effort to retain relevance after suffering a series of legal defeats that effectively stripped him of control over the party’s structure.

Defiant Abure, in a lengthy statement, insisted that his leadership emerged from the LP’s March 2024 convention in Nnewi and argued that his faction would continue to participate fully in preparations for the 2027 elections pending a final determination by the Supreme Court.

He defended the distribution of free forms as part of LP’s ideological commitment to inclusiveness and grassroots participation, insisting that the initiative was designed to make politics affordable to ordinary Nigerians.

The fresh drama followed photographs on social media showing Abure presenting nomination forms to a former National Vice Chairman of the party, CeekayIgara, and others in Abia State.

Reacting, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, warned aspirants and party supporters against obtaining nomination forms from Abure, describing the documents as “worthless paper.”

He said, “Let it be stated clearly and unequivocally that Usman is the National Chairman of LP, and all legitimate nomination forms for every elective position ahead of the 2027 general elections can only be obtained through the official national secretariat of the party located in Utako, Abuja.

“Consequently, any so-called LP nomination form obtained from Abure or any other unauthorised source is nothing but worthless paper being peddled by political fraudsters seeking to deceive unsuspecting persons.”