YUSUF Datti Baba-Ahmed, who ran alongside Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party (LP), has publicly acknowledged Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman, a move that distances him from Obi’s current faction.
News Point Nigeria report that appearing on a national television programme on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed cited the Supreme Court ruling and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recognition of Abure as the basis for his stance.
His comments followed his attendance at the Abure-led LP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Monday.
Although he previously participated in the factional NEC meeting held in Umuahia, convened by Abia State Governor Alex Otti, where Nenadi Usman was declared acting national chairman, Baba-Ahmed has since shifted his stance based on legal and institutional developments.
“INEC is dealing with Julius Abure. As far as the law is concerned, it is in order to relate with Abure,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“If the Supreme Court gives another interpretation that it is Nenadi Usman, the law is the law.”
The Umuahia faction, supported by Obi and attended by NLC President Joe Ajaero, reappointed Senator Nenadi Usman as interim chair and Senator Darlington Nkwocha as interim National Secretary.
This group continues to reject Abure’s leadership, describing his faction as illegitimate and out of touch with party values.
Baba-Ahmed, however, hinted that powerful external interests are manipulating the Labour Party and warned that such interference cannot continue indefinitely.
“Labour Party members are being remote-controlled… but they can’t continue to do this forever. Very soon, it will end,” he said.
