The Labour Party has disclosed plans to expel its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, accusing him of anti-party conduct and maintaining affiliations with another political group.
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During an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, confirmed that the National Executive Council (NEC) would soon meet to recommend Obi’s removal from the party. He said the resolution would be presented for ratification at the party’s next national convention.
“Let me be clear that a NEC meeting is imminent, and Obi will be expelled,” Arabambi declared. “You cannot belong to one political party while keeping ties with another. That is a breach of our constitution. Obi has crossed to the other side, and there he will stay.”
“We are not going to tolerate this. Obi is no longer considered a member of our party. You can’t fraternise with others and still lay claim to being Labour Party,” he added.
Arabambi also accused the former presidential candidate of aligning with what he described as a “yahoo yahoo coalition,” insisting that such associations are incompatible with Labour Party principles.
Obi, who secured more than 6.1 million votes in the February 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party banner, is reportedly associated with a faction led by Senator Usman Nenadi. That group operates independently of the party leadership under National Chairman Julius Abure, to which Arabambi belongs.
This development follows recent disciplinary actions taken by the Abure-led faction, including the suspension of Abia State Governor Alex Otti, Senator Ireti Kingibe, and Senator Darlington Nwokocha, also for alleged anti-party behaviour.
The mounting internal divisions signal deepening fractures within the Labour Party, raising questions about its cohesion ahead of future national elections.