The lingering leadership tussle within the Labour Party (LP) has resurfaced after the appearance of Julius Abure, the embattled factional National Chairman, and Umar Farouk Ibrahim, a factional National Secretary of the party, respectively, at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Abure and Ibrahim were sighted at the quarterly consultative meeting between INEC and leaders of registered political parties, a development that has reignited tensions within the opposition party.
Photographs of the duo’s attendance were circulated by Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led faction, who described them as the “legitimate representatives” of the Labour Party at the engagement.
The INEC meeting, a routine interface between the commission and political parties’ leadership, provides a platform for discussions on electoral reforms, internal party democracy, and upcoming election preparations.
However, the presence of the Abure-led faction has raised questions about the electoral body’s current recognition status of LP’s rival groups. It was not immediately clear whether the Senator Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwokocha-led Interim National Committee of themparty, which emerged from a separate factional convention, were also invited or in attendance.
LEADERSHIP reports that the Labour Party has been enmeshed in a prolonged leadership crisis, with multiple court rulings and parallel conventions producing rival factions, each claiming legitimacy.
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