By Emameh Gabriel
A potentially destabilising leadership crisis has engulfed Nigeria’s Labour Party, pitching the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against the Julius Abure-led faction in a bitter confrontation that threatens to split one of the country’s major opposition parties.
The rescheduling of the Obi-Otti faction’s NEC meeting from Monday to today creates overlapping party events, a tactical escalation that forces the Abure leadership into a defensive posture as they attempt to manage concurrent crises.
The dispute, stemming from conflicting interpretations of a Supreme Court judgment delivered on 4th April 2025, has escalated into a full-blown political and legal battle with far reaching implications for Nigeria’s democratic processes.
The NLC yesterday, in an extensive statement signed by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, presented what it described as an “explicit and unambiguous” reading of the Supreme Court’s judgment. The labour centre asserted that the apex court had definitively ruled that Julius Abure’s tenure as Labour Party chairman had elapsed and that his National Working Committee (NWC) no longer enjoyed any legal recognition.
“The current affront of Mr. Julius Abure and co-travellers against the law especially his resistance to the pronouncement of the highest court in Nigeria has convinced those who doubted our earlier position that Mr. Julius Abure and the few miscreants following him have sworn themselves to utter impunity, crass disdain for decency and utmost disrespect to Nigeria’s laws,” the NLC statement declared in particularly scathing language.
The labour movement positioned itself as the defender of constitutional order, accusing Abure’s faction of engaging in what it termed a “reckless assault against the grain of constitutionality and the rule of law.” The NLC further alleged that Abure’s camp had falsely claimed the labour movement planned violent attacks on Labour Party offices, a charge it vehemently denied.
In what appears to be a move of self help, the NLC called for mass mobilisation, urging “every Nigerian worker, genuine Labour Party members and patriotic citizens to be on standby to once again peacefully repossess all offices of Labour Party nationwide.”
Joe Ajearo in the statement outlined a clear plan of action, indicating that the NLC Political Commission and other stakeholders would issue specific directives for this repossession campaign.
The NLC also served notice to key state institutions. It called on security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS), to enforce the Supreme Court judgment, warning that failure to do so would portray Nigeria as a “banana republic.” Similarly, it demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) immediately remove all references to Abure’s leadership from its records.
To resolve the leadership vacuum, the NLC proposed that the “surviving institutional members” of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) should appoint an interim leadership to conduct a special national convention in line with the party’s constitution. Any deviation from this process, the NLC warned, would be met with stiff resistance from Nigerian workers and the general public.
However, Julius Abure’s Labour Party faction has called the NLC’s bluff, refusing to back down. Rather, it described any move made by the NLC as blackmail against the INEC and security agencies in Nigeria.
The Labour Party’s response, articulated by its National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, presented a fundamentally different interpretation of both the Supreme Court judgment and the NLC’s motives. The party categorically denied that the Supreme Court ruling had any bearing on its leadership structure, describing the NLC’s position as a deliberate misreading of the judgment.
“The Supreme Court is clear about party leadership in which the courts have no business. The Supreme Court stated that courts cannot interfere in the internal affairs of a political party. The Courts didn’t sack the NWC nor held the tenure to have lapsed,” Ifoh stated. The party went further to suggest that NLC leaders might need legal education, stating: “We advise Joe Ajaero and his ilks to seek legal advice if they cannot comprehend a simple court pronouncement.”
The Labour Party provided a detailed account of its leadership transition process, noting that while the tenure of the executive elected in 2019 was originally meant to expire in June 2023, it was properly extended for one year by the National Executive Committee – a meeting the NLC allegedly participated in. The party emphasised that before this extended tenure expired in June 2024, a national convention was conducted in March 2024 in full compliance with both the party constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
Obiora accused the NLC of previous violent actions, recalling an incident in 2024 when NLC members allegedly “forcefully broke into our national headquarters carting away valuables.” The party claimed to have received intelligence about planned fresh attacks, prompting its decision to go public with its concerns.
The statement took personal aim at NLC President Joe Ajaero, accusing him of politicising the labour movement and neglecting core workers’ welfare issues. “He has since politicised the Labour Union in Nigeria and he is no longer fit to occupy that exalted office. We have once advised him to quit unionism and join politics but he will not listen,” the Labour Party statement read.
At the heart of this dispute lies a fundamental disagreement about judicial authority over internal party matters. While the NLC maintains that the Supreme Court has ruled on the legitimacy of the Labour Party’s leadership, the Abure faction insists the judgment was narrowly focused on technical electoral matters, specifically concerning INEC’s processes for the Ondo State governorship election.
The Labour Party’s statement clarified that the original court case was filed solely to compel INEC to provide uploading codes for the Ondo election, and that leadership issues were never part of the litigation. This raises important questions about whether the Supreme Court’s judgment can reasonably be interpreted as addressing the party’s leadership structure.
The situation presents several flashpoints that could lead to further escalation. The NLC’s call for mass mobilisation to “peacefully repossess” party offices nationwide carries the risk of confrontations between labour activists and party loyalists. Similarly, the Labour Party’s vow to “mobilise our members across the nation to resist them” if the NLC attempts to take over offices suggests the potential for violent clashes.
Last week, Abure made two strong allegations: that Abia’s Governor Otti was financially propping up the NLC’s challenge to his authority, and that Peter Obi was complicit in undermining party unity. The leadership issued stark warnings of disciplinary consequences for any attempt to convene an alternative NEC assembly.
This leadership crisis in Labour Party stroke at the worst possible time for Nigeria’s opposition landscape. With the 2027 electoral battle lines being drawn, the Labour Party, which dramatically reshaped Nigerian politics in 2023 by offering a genuine alternative, may see its influence crippled by infighting when united opposition fronts are most crucial.
The personalisation of the conflict, with both sides engaging in harsh personal attacks, suggests deep-seated animosities that may complicate resolution efforts. The NLC’s description of Abure’s supporters as “miscreants” and the Labour Party’s characterisation of Ajaero as unfit for office indicate a breakdown in relations that extends beyond mere political disagreement.
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