Too Late for Peter Obi to Return to Labour Party — Chairman
The interim national chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, has said the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would be legally ineligible to contest the 2027 election on the party’s platform if he fails to meet its membership registration deadline.
Usman made the clarification during an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, explaining that the party’s membership register would be closed 21 days before its primaries and forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in line with electoral regulations.
“Well it will be too late actually for him to come back because if you look at the act now, at some point we close the register,” she said.
“Once we close the register 21 days before primaries, submit the register, the e-register to INEC, you can’t come from behind the door for us to register you and for you to contest the elections. That would be impossible, legally impossible anyway.”
Usman acknowledged Obi’s key role in the Labour Party’s strong showing in the 2023 general election, adding that he had also influenced her own defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the LP ahead of the polls.
“Even me, he convinced me to come with him to Labour Party. Convinced me and not just me, many people that are in Labour Party today were convinced by, let’s join Peter, go to Labour Party because we believed in equity and fair play,” she said.
She further explained that her departure from the PDP was driven by dissatisfaction with the party’s decision not to zone its presidential ticket to the South.
“We believe that PDP should have zoned the seat to the south. But since they left it open and said there were no zoning and a northerner, they were trying to field a northerner, we felt no, it’s not fair. Though I’m a northerner but I felt it was not fair,” she added.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
