The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has urged his supporters to back the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the upcoming by-elections.
In a post published via his X page on Thursday, Obi, a member of the ADC-led coalition, said his decision was due to the LP having no candidates recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the ballot amid an internal crisis.
“On the 16th of August 2025, Nigerians will go to the polling units again for the by-elections,” Obi wrote.
“This is expected to take place in the 16 states of the federation, with 2 senatorial, 5 federal house of representatives and 9 state assembly seats available for voting.
“Kindly note that the Labour Party has no candidates recognised by INEC due to the internal crisis.
“I humbly urge every member of the Obidient and COPDEM families to go out and vote for the coalition political party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in their respective states.
“The struggle for Nigeria has started.”
On August 2, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) excluded the names of Labour Party (LP) candidates from its list—a decision that sparked a protest march to the commission’s Abuja headquarters last week.
The affected candidates emerged from primaries organised by the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) amid an ongoing leadership crisis in the party.
On August 5, the Nenadi Usman-led faction commended INEC for rejecting the list submitted by Abure’s leadership, describing the move as a welcome relief. The group insisted that the electoral body should recognise and publish the authentic list submitted by the party’s lawful leadership.
However, on August 12, Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the Abure faction, warned that the elections could be nullified if INEC excluded its candidates from the ballot. He cited the Electoral Act 2022, which allows any political party excluded from an election to seek redress in court.
Ifoh further accused INEC of acting in the interest of anti-democratic forces and wasting taxpayers’ money.
Since the 2023 general elections, the Labour Party has been embroiled in a leadership tussle, producing parallel factions—each claiming legitimacy and control over party affairs.