The immediate past national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has said he will not support the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 general election because its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has squandered the goodwill he enjoyed ahead of the 2023 polls.
Abure made this known during an interview with Punch on Sunday, adding that his camp was willing to support another presidential candidate and political party whose interests and ideology align with theirs ahead of the 2027 election.
“Let me say clearly that Obi will not record the successes he recorded in the 2023 general election. That is because he has squandered his goodwill, human capital, resources, and mismanaged all the gains he had in 2023,” he said.
He explained that the decision on which party and candidate his group would support would also depend on the outcome of a pending Supreme Court case involving his faction and the LP’s current leadership.
However, Abure said he would consult his supporters and settle for a preferred candidate if the Supreme Court failed to deliver its judgment before the end of November.
“As for me, we are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide our case, and if the judgment is not coming before the end of this November, we will rationalise the offer of whoever wants our support,” he said.
“However, it must tally with our interest and ideology, and he must be a sellable candidate. Once these are settled, our faces will be everywhere. I am talking about the same faces that took Peter Obi everywhere in 2023.”
The former LP chairman maintained that he had yet to negotiate with any presidential candidate but ruled out the NDC because of Obi’s involvement with the party.
“The NDC is not included. I don’t see any reason to support Peter Obi again. I will not. And I am saying this with conviction and without any fear of contradiction. However, as of now, I am not in talks with any candidate yet. This is because it’s not just about me. It’s also about my followers and their interests,” he said.
Abure further argued that Obi’s conduct during his time in the LP had raised questions about his leadership capacity, claiming that the former Anambra governor no longer enjoyed the same level of freedom and influence within the NDC.
“Obi’s behaviour in the Labour Party is now what people are using to assess if he can truly lead the country. This is because if you can’t lead a micro, there is no way you can lead a macro,” he said.
“No way! Let Obi compare the freedom and leverage he enjoyed under our leadership to what he is experiencing in the NDC; he already knows the difference. You can see that Senator Dickson is fully in charge and he’s not giving up the party’s leadership.”
Abure’s disagreement with Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti dates back to September 2024, when the LP appointed Nenadi Usman to head a caretaker committee.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) subsequently recognised the committee, which also received backing from court rulings, including a Court of Appeal judgment that dismissed Abure’s attempt to overturn his removal as national chairman.
In April 2026, the party formally elected Usman as its substantive national chairperson.