The Labour Party convened a high-level National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, amidst ongoing tensions surrounding the party’s leadership crisis.
The gathering, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, was presided over by former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, who currently chairs the party’s Caretaker Committee.
Among the notable figures present were the party’s 2023 presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed, and the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti.
Also in attendance were several serving lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the party’s governorship candidates for Edo and Imo States, Olumide Akpata and Athan Achonu respectively.
The meeting came shortly after the Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling that unsettled the leadership structure within the party.
The apex court unanimously ruled that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had overstepped its jurisdiction when it recognised Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman, stressing that leadership matters within political parties are internal and not for judicial interpretation.
The judgment further clarified that Abure’s tenure had already lapsed.
Usman, in her remarks, announced that the party would undertake a review of its recently conducted governorship primary in Anambra State.
The primary, held last Saturday in Awka, produced Chief George Moghalu—former head of the National Inland Waterways Authority—as the Labour Party’s candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election scheduled for 8 November 2025.
The Anambra primary marked the final major activity under the Abure-led National Working Committee before the Supreme Court’s intervention reshaped the leadership narrative.
The court, siding with an appeal filed by Senator Esther Usman and another party member, dismissed a counter-appeal from Abure’s faction as lacking merit.
