Labour Party Rules Out Obi’s Possible Return

The Labour Party (LP) on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of Mr Peter Obi returning to the party.

Obi, who contested for president in 2023 on the platform of the LP, had defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in December 2025.

He is one of the front runners for the 2027 presidential ticket of the ADC.

But while fielding questions from journalists at the LP’s Abuja national secretariat, the National Secretary of the Labour Party, Darlington Nwokocha, said the LP did not expect Obi to return to the party.

The question came up in the backdrop of media speculations that Obi might return to the LP if he failed to secure the 2027 presidential ticket of the ADC.

Nwokocha said, “Peter Obi is one Nigerian we respect a whole lot. He is a man of principle. For him to have left Labour Party to another party, I don’t see him as somebody that will come back to Labour Party again.

“He is quite principled. So he must have considered so many things before leaving and we have wished him well.

“Presently we have a national leader who is very competent, who has very tall pedigree. So I don’t think this question will keep coming up, whether he is coming back or he is not coming back. You know integrity matters in everything we do. And I think he has enough of it in his warehouse.”

Answering questions on the alleged rift between the leadership of the LP and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) leadership, the LP National Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mrs Nenadi Usman, said there was no rift between the two leaderships.

According to her, leaders of the NLC have been having fruitful meetings with the new LP leadership on the way forward.

Usman said, “If you remember, on the 30th or 31st of January, we had a special NEC meeting at the Abia Governor’s Lodge at Asokoro. And on that day, if you remember, the Secretary General of the TUC, the Secretary General of the NLC and their members were there.

“So if we are quarrelling, why were we attending meetings together, eating dinner together? We are not quarrelling.

“There is no issue whatsoever. Of course, yes, we may have had one or two issues that came up. But we sat down as mature adults, we ironed out everything and we are both satisfied and wanting to work together.

“And that is why we are working together. Because if it was when we had issues and the issues were not resolved, you wouldn’t see Professor Ndubaku here.

“But now that you have seen members of the NLC attending meetings, with those of TUC attending, it means that whatever it was that was the issue has been clearly resolved.”

The highlight of Tuesday’s meeting at the LP secretariat was the presentation of an interim report of the party’s ongoing membership revalidation, mobilisation and registration exercise.

The report was presented to Mrs Usman by the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Chief Ikechukwu Emetu. The deputy governor serves as the chairman of the Steering Committee of the registration and revalidation exercise.

Addressing the leadership of the party, Emetu said the LP has come to stay as a strong party in the country and that the party is there for everyone.

He cited Abia State as a testament to the viability of the party, adding that LP will secure more seats in national and state assemblies and win a reasonable number of governorship seats in the 2027 elections.

Emetu said, “What we can assure you all is the trust that Nigerians have in the Labour Party in Abia State. That should show Nigerians that at the national level, we can deliver.

“Abia is a model for every Nigerian who still prays and believes that Nigeria can work, that the Labour Party is the surest place.”

Labour Party Rules Out Obi’s Possible Return is first published on The Whistler Newspaper