· …Abure broke into LP secretariat, stole documents – Usman
The crisis rocking the Labour Party took a fresh turn on Wednesday as the party’s National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, and the Nigeria Labour Congress called on security agencies to rearrest the immediate past National Chairman, Julius Abure, over an alleged illegal entry and theft of official documents.
Usman and the Acting National Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, made the demand while addressing journalists at the Labour Party secretariat in Abuja, describing Abure’s action as criminal, shameful, and contemptuous of court orders.
According to Usman, Abure unlawfully gained access to the party’s national secretariat on Tuesday night and allegedly carted away valid and official party documents.
“So, for me to know what was in there took me a bit of time, but honestly, it is really very sad, so very, very sad thinking,” Usman said.
“Well, I think every institution must be respected, and there must be an institutional memory. When you work in an office, a ministry, a political party office, or whatever, every document that belongs to that office belongs to the office. When it is your time to go, you go and you leave the document so that those who come from behind know what has happened, and they will build on it.
“But, for us to say that whenever you are living in a ministry or you are living in a political party office, you must still come in the night, and steal all the documents, you see, there is something terribly wrong about it.”
The Labour Party has been engulfed in a protracted leadership crisis, with Senator Usman and Abure both laying claim to the party’s leadership. However, in January 2026, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court recognised the Usman-led executive as the legitimate leadership of the party.
Despite this judicial recognition, Abure’s alleged midnight visit to the secretariat has escalated tensions and raised questions about compliance with the court’s decision.
Usman confirmed that the matter had already been reported to the Department of State Services and other security agencies, expressing confidence that the DSS Director General and his team would not allow the act to go unpunished.
“Yes, I am calling on them to take measures on it. We have reported them, and some of them, you can see, are out there. So, we have reported to them; you know, people should not think like, ‘Let’s measure where you can do anything, anyhow and get away with it.’
“The moment people believe that you can do this kind of thing and get away with it is very, very sad. Anybody holding any office, anywhere, would want to do this kind of thing. As we are living, you’re still everything and going away with it.
“Honestly, I am sure the Director General, DSS and his entire team, when they hear this, will be heartbroken. But I’m very, very sure they will not let it go,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the NLC, Upah condemned the alleged action in stronger terms, describing it as disgraceful, disgusting, and consistent with the character of those involved.
“Yes, it is quite shameful and disgusting. But this is in line with the character of the people who did this,” Upah said.
“You know, first and foremost, it is a criminal offence. When you break and enter a facility without authorisation or a place you do not have access to, you do not have a right to access it. You don’t need to be a police officer to know that it is a very serious crime.
“But beside that, you will recall these same elements accused us of stealing money from this secretariat; that we took away billions. We took away worker salaries. So, the chickens have come to roost.”
Upah argued that the break-in constituted both a criminal offence and contempt of court, given the existing judgment affirming the Usman-led leadership. He urged security agencies to allow the law to take its full course and warned against any recurrence.
“It is consistent with their character. It is in the 1960s and in the daytime. It is shameful and it is contemptuous of the decisions of the court in this manner.
“So, we have two issues here, issues of contempt and issues bordering on crime. We condemn this in its entirety and we hope the law will take its due course. But beyond that, we do hope this will not happen again. If it does happen again, we know what to do,” he added.
Amid the fresh crisis, Usman outlined the party’s immediate priorities, which include membership evaluation, registration of old and new members, and taking stock of previous activities to strengthen the party’s foundation nationwide.
She emphasised that the Labour Party’s strength lies in its broad base of workers, traders, and grassroots supporters, working in collaboration with the NLC and the Trade Union Congress.
“Well, what we intend to do, just like we’ve always said, the first building block is membership evaluation, registering our old and new members and taking stock of what has happened before. So, that is where we are now.
“That is the building block. Because if you don’t know how many you are, how do you start knowing what you are planning? So, that is where we are starting from,” Usman said.
She also appealed to party members to avoid a narrow view of leadership, stressing that no single individual is indispensable.
“He has not endowed only one person with every attribute. Each and every person you see, like God, has endowed them in different ways. Even you, as we are standing here, only God knows what you will be. So please, let’s not limit ourselves to anything and claim that there is only one person who can do it,” she said.
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