Otti pushes reconciliation as Labour Party moves beyond leadership crisis

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said the Labour Party remains open to the return of embattled former National Chairman, Julius Abure, and his loyalists as part of ongoing reconciliation efforts ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Otti spoke on Thursday during the inaugural meeting of the party’s National Working Committee at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Responding to questions over the possible reintegration of Abure and members of the dissolved National Working Committee, including state chairmen loyal to him, the governor said the reconciliation process was already gaining momentum.

According to him, more than 25 state chairmen aligned with the Abure camp attended the party’s recent convention and were subsequently returned as members of the newly elected National Working Committee.

“No, if you followed the convention, you would discover that over 25 state chairmen of the Abure group that you mentioned actually attended the convention. In fact, they were actually returned as members of the newly elected National Working Committee,” Otti said.

“That was also because part of the charge we gave the National Working Committee to do is to reconcile and bring back as many people as possible. You can see that it is happening. So, in this disagreement, we declared that there was no victor, no vanquished. Everybody is a winner.”

He added that the party would continue to keep its doors open for Abure and others willing to return.

“So we will keep our doors open, even for Abure to return to the party that he has worked for. The disagreement is over. We are now reconciling and reintegrating people to ensure that the party emerges stronger,” he stated.

Otti also expressed confidence in the newly elected leadership of the party headed by National Chairman, Nenadi Usman, describing the leadership as capable of repositioning the party for future elections.

He congratulated Usman and the 33 members of the National Working Committee, saying they had earned the trust of party members and would demonstrate competence in managing the affairs of the party, especially ahead of the primaries expected within the next month.

The governor also distanced the Labour Party from the Ibadan opposition summit, insisting that the party was not part of any arrangement to adopt a consensus presidential candidate for the next election cycle.

“Unfortunately, we are not part of the summit because we were holding our national convention then. We are not part of this agreement. So we are not bound by what happened there,” he said.

Otti’s remarks come amid lingering tensions within the party following the leadership tussle between Abure and the Usman-led caretaker committee.

The crisis intensified after the Court of Appeal affirmed Usman’s leadership, a verdict Abure rejected while insisting that party leadership disputes remain internal matters outside judicial intervention.

The appellate court ruling upheld an earlier judgment of the Federal High Court recognising the Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the legitimate leadership of the party.

The turning point in the dispute came when the Independent National Electoral Commission formally recognised the Usman-led committee as the authentic leadership of the Labour Party, following a directive issued by the Federal High Court.