The Labour Party (LP) experienced tensions on the late Tuesday as the faction loyal to former National Chairman Julius Abure announced it had retaken control of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, less than 24 hours after the Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee seized the premises following a court ruling.
In a statement issued late Tuesday in the Federal Capital Territory, the Abure faction, through its National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, confirmed that the party’s Utako headquarters had been “recovered” from the rival camp that had taken over earlier in the day.
“The Julius Abure-led leadership of the Labour Party has recovered the party’s national secretariat illegally occupied by the Abia State government and Nenadi Usman’s group earlier today,” the statement read.
According to Ifoh, banners and billboards bearing the image of the Usman-led National Caretaker Committee chairman were removed as part of the reclaiming operation. He described the earlier takeover as “illegal and unauthorised” and pledged to pursue legal action over alleged losses.
“The party will take inventory of the losses and outright theft that are observed resulting from the illegal invasion, after which a formal charge will be pressed,” Ifoh said. “We also warn that the party will no longer tolerate further attempts by some desperate politicians to impugn the lawful activities of the party.”
The statement added that party activities would resume at the headquarters on Wednesday and urged members to await the final resolution of matters at the appellate courts.
Reacting to the development, Senator Nenadi Usman, acting National Chairman of the LP, expressed shock and dismay, asserting that the Abure faction’s actions flouted an existing court judgment.
“There is a court judgment in place that says Abure has ceased to be the national chairman of the party, and the secretariat is where their lawful duty should be performed,” Usman said through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Asogwa.
She accused the Abure camp of attempting to reverse the legal verdict through force.
“Now, someone has just gone there to take the law into his hands by saying the judgment should not be implemented. Have we gone bananas in this country?” Usman said.
Usman maintained that her group’s assumption of the secretariat was conducted “openly and lawfully,” contrasting it with what she described as a midnight manoeuvre by Abure loyalists.
The showdown at the secretariat follows a contentious Federal High Court ruling in Abuja that affirmed Usman’s caretaker committee as the lawful leadership of the party, on the basis that Abure’s tenure had expired.
The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Usman-led committee as the party’s authorised leadership pending a national convention, a decision that Abure’s camp has rejected and vowed to appeal.
The immediate catalyst for Tuesday’s events came when security forces, including armed police personnel, were deployed around the secretariat earlier in the day as Usman and her team took control of the premises. Party banners and billboards featuring Abure and his executive were taken down and replaced with those of Usman’s leadership, while supporters and journalists were subjected to security screening.
The bitter leadership tussle, rooted in rival factions and parallel claims to the party’s top seat, has dogged the Labour Party since its strong showing in the 2023 elections, with disputes spilling into different courts and sparking fierce internal recriminations.
