Labour Party National Chairman Nenadi Usman has ruled out any possibility of former presidential candidate Peter Obi returning to contest under the party’s platform ahead of the 2027 general elections, citing the party’s internal procedures and electoral guidelines as creating a practical and legal barrier that had effectively closed the window for Obi’s return.
Speaking during a television interview, Usman was unambiguous in her assessment, explaining that the party’s register would be closed 21 days before primaries and submitted electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission, making it impossible for a late entrant to be registered and cleared to contest within the required timeframe.
“It will be too late, actually, for him to come back, because if you look at the Act now, at some point we close the register, and once we close the register 21 days before primaries and submit the electronic register to INEC, you cannot come from behind the door for us to register you and for you to contest,” she said.
Despite the categorical closure, Usman acknowledged Obi’s significant role in boosting the party’s profile during the 2023 election cycle, crediting him personally with persuading her and many other prominent figures to join the Labour Party on the strength of shared convictions about equity and fairness. She admitted that no current party member commanded comparable political momentum or national recognition.
On the party’s future direction, Usman said the Labour Party would refocus on its founding ideals of social justice and equal opportunity, pointing to Abia State Governor Alex Otti as the model of what Labour Party governance should look like in practice.
“What I want Nigerians to expect henceforth is a new Labour Party that is going to be strictly based on the ideologies the party was built initially to represent, equal opportunity, social justice. Governor Alex Otti is what I would say is the ambassador of the Labour Party. He is the only governor we have and he is doing very well,” she said.
She also urged Nigerians with genuine capacity and commitment to national development to engage directly in the political process rather than advocating change from the sidelines, arguing that institutional transformation could only be achieved from within the system.
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