…Says Commission merely requires proper NEC notification
By Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja
The Senator Nedadi Usman-led faction of the Labour Party has declared that there is no cause for alarm over reports that INEC rejected its proposal to desolve the party’s state executives across the country.
The National Youth Leader of the Labour Party (LP), Comrade Eragbe Anslem, confirmed to Spear News Nigeria in an exclusive interview on Friday, that the situation was a “procedural clarification” rather than a rejection as earlier reported by this medium.
Eragbe noted that INEC’s response actually empowers the Usman-led leadership to convene a proper National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
“There is NO cause for alarm!” Eragbe declared, responding to concerns raised by an earlier Spear News report detailing INEC’s February 16, 2026 memo which stated that the dissolution of state, local government, and ward executives “without giving the Statutory Notice of the meeting to the Commission and without the authority to act in your Party Constitution cannot be acceded to.”
According to Eragbe, INEC’s response merely indicates that a NEC meeting should be called with the required 21 days’ notice, citing relevant sections of the Labour Party Constitution 2019 as amended.
“INEC’s response is to the effect that a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting was supposed to be called: to the effect of the notification letter, with 21 days notice issued to INEC and citing relevant sections of the Labour Party (LP) Constitution 2019 as amended,” Eragbe explained.
The Youth Leader further pointed out that there are no subsisting ward, local government, or state executives under Julius Abure, arguing that these structures expired one year before June 8, 2024, when Abure’s National Working Committee (NWC) acting tenure also elapsed “by effluxion of time.”
“Senator Nenadi Usman and Senator Darlington Nwokocha are guided by the INEC response to do the needful by calling a NEC meeting to obtain Resolutions which INEC shall implement in line with Labour Party (LP) Constitution 2019 as amended,” he stated.
The clarification comes amidst tensions following the leaked INEC memo dated February 16, 2026, which had reportedly thrown the Usman-led Caretaker Committee into confusion. The memo, signed by Commission Secretary Dr. Rose Oriaran-Anthony, responded to the faction’s February 6 request seeking to notify INEC of the dissolution of executives across all 36 states and the FCT.
Spear News had earlier reported that Labour Party successfully conducted ward, local government, and state congresses with INEC’s approval and monitoring between December 2nd and 6th, 2025—except in Abia State where a court order restrained the process.
The party’s leadership crisis dates back to September 4, 2024, when a stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, attended by presidential candidate Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti, triggered what sources described as a “mutiny” against the Abure-led leadership.
While court records obtained by Spear News show that previous cases up to the Supreme Court were resolved in favour of the Abure faction, a controversial Federal High Court judgement on January 21, 2026, reportedly recognised Nenadi Usman as valid leader—a decision currently under appeal.
Despite the appeal and stay of execution, the Usman-led faction, with police protection, recently occupied the party’s national secretariat, displacing Abure and his team.
Eragbe, however, remains optimistic about the path forward.
“Forward Ever!” he concluded, urging party faithful to remain steadfast as the leadership works to regularise its position with INEC through the constitutionally mandated NEC process.
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