"Expose Us If You Dare" — Nenadi Usman Dares Julius Abure as Labour Party Crisis Deepens

 

The internal crisis tearing through the Labour Party (LP) has taken a dramatic turn, as Nenadi Usman, chairperson of the LP caretaker committee, has publicly thrown down the gauntlet to Julius Abure, the embattled factional national chairman of the party.

Speaking during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme aired by Channels Television on Friday, Usman directly challenged Abure to make good on his recent threat to expose top-ranking members of the party, including Peter Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti.

“Well, I am challenging him to expose us. If you have anybody to expose, you don’t go and talk now, you go and expose them,” Usman said bluntly, calling his bluff in front of a national audience.

Her remarks came in response to a veiled warning made earlier in the week by Abure, who has continued to insist on his legitimacy as the LP’s national chairman despite a Supreme Court ruling. During a media engagement, Abure hinted that he was holding back damaging revelations about key figures in the party.

“I am waiting for them — from top to bottom — to make any other move and I will open my mouth. And when I open my mouth, wherever they go to, they will be like smelly eggs, rotten eggs that nobody will ever buy,” Abure said, a comment that has since gone viral and stirred tension within party ranks.

But Usman wasn’t impressed. She dismissed Abure’s comments as mere threats with no real weight behind them, insisting that the party was already aware of several allegations against him. In fact, according to her, the matter is currently under police investigation.

“We have a lot of things about him and that is why the people whom he did it to went to the police. The police are investigating him and very soon you will hear about it,” she stated confidently.

A Party in Crisis: The Battle for Control

The leadership crisis within the Labour Party has only worsened in recent months, with two main factions battling for control — one led by Julius Abure, and the other, a caretaker committee backed by major party stakeholders like Peter Obi, Governor Alex Otti, and Senator Ireti Kingibe.

Usman made it clear that this crisis represents a serious threat to the party’s internal democracy. She warned that if the LP fails to operate transparently and lawfully, it could easily slip into becoming an extension of the ruling party — a scenario she believes would be disastrous for Nigerian democracy.

“Generally, you would agree with me that every democracy needs to have a vibrant opposition. So when the opposition wants to become part of the ruling party, then there’s a problem. And that is where we are today,” she warned.

Tenure Expired, Court Battles Lost

According to Usman, Abure’s time as party chairman has legally come to an end. She explained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already recognized that Abure's tenure and that of his National Working Committee (NWC) had expired, prompting them to take action.

“Principally, the Labour Party leadership at some point had issues with INEC because the tenure of Abure and his NWC had come to an end,” she said.
“Which was why when INEC invited leaders of political parties, he attended the meeting and was told to step out with his secretary.”

Following this, Abure approached the courts and secured a judgment compelling INEC to continue recognizing him as chairman. But that legal win was short-lived.

“We, of course, appealed. Even at the Court of Appeal, judgment was still given in his favour that INEC should recognise him,” she explained.

Eventually, the matter reached the Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court rulings and clearly stated that Abure’s tenure was over.

“We went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court looked at the issue critically and said the two lower courts didn’t have any jurisdiction. They said his tenure was over, he is not the chairman, he’s no longer the chairman of the Labour Party,” Usman said.

She also quoted Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, who emphasized the importance of stepping down when a term ends:

“Please, leaders, when your tenure comes to an end in an office, please kindly leave honourably.”

INEC Calls for Fresh Elections, Caretaker Committee Steps In

With Abure’s leadership deemed invalid, INEC directed the party to go back to the drawing board and conduct fresh congresses from the grassroots to the national level.

“If INEC says you don’t have leaders, your leadership, their tenure is over, then go and start having congresses,” Usman said.
“From the ward to the state, to local government, you do your zonal thing, come and have a national convention where you elect new leaders.”

To carry out this directive, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) formed a caretaker committee led by Usman. The committee was tasked with managing party affairs temporarily and organizing the needed congresses and a national convention.

“What the party did was to look at the major stakeholders and members of the NEC. They said what we should do is get together a committee that would come conduct all these congresses so that at the end of the day, we’ll have properly elected leaders,” she explained.

Usman also stressed that Abure was welcome to contest again if he still wished to lead the party — but only through a proper election.

“Even Julius Abure, if he still wants to remain chairman, he could go through the election,” she said.
“But he doesn’t want to go through election, his NWC, they don’t want to go through election. They just want to be using the courts to remain as leaders. I think that’s not good for opposition.”

Suspensions and Counter-Suspensions

The chaos reached a new level in early May. On May 7, Abure’s faction suspended Governor Alex Otti and Senator Ireti Kingibe for alleged anti-party activities. Just two days later, the Usman-led faction hit back by suspending Julius Abure himself, accusing him of illegally parading himself as the party’s national chairman despite the Supreme Court ruling.

Each side continues to claim legitimacy, but with the Supreme Court ruling against Abure and INEC calling for a new round of congresses, the momentum appears to be shifting away from the former chairman.