Lagos LP Crisis Deepens Over New Caretaker Committee
The Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State has plunged deeper into crisis following the appointment of a new 24-member Caretaker Executive Committee by a faction of the party backed by its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
In a letter dated May 5, 2025, addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and signed by the Chairman Caretaker Committee, Senator Nenadi Esther Usman, the party formally notified INEC of the appointment.
The letter named Rotimi Odunaike as the new State Chairman, alongside other officials tasked with piloting the party’s affairs in Lagos ahead of the national convention.
Other prominent members of the newly constituted committee include Adegboyega Adeniji, Comrade Rasheed Bamishe, and Barrister. Affiong L. Affiong and Dr Adefolaseye Adebayo, all named as Deputy State Chairmen. Hon. Dorcas Irhoghama Omorodion was appointed State Secretary, among several others.
However, the announcement has sparked outrage within the ranks of the existing state leadership under Pastor (Dr) Mrs Dayo Ekong, who has vehemently rejected the appointments, describing them as illegal, unconstitutional, and a calculated attempt to destabilise the party.
In a rebuttal, Ekong declared the caretaker committee null and void, citing the LP constitution and a recent Supreme Court ruling delivered on April 4, which she claimed reaffirmed Barr. Julius Abure as the legitimate National Chairman of the party.
“By the Supreme Court judgement delivered on 4th April 2025, Barr. Julius Abure is still the National Chairman of our great party (Labour Party).
“Barr. Julius Abure is the only legally and authorised National Chairman of the Labour Party that has the right to appoint or submit a recognised list of Labour Party executives to INEC,” Ekong argued.
She further dismissed the circulating INEC-stamped letter as meaningless, arguing that receiving a letter does not equate to official recognition by the electoral body.
“The purported caretaker committee members are just a bunch of power-drunk, lawless and ignorant desperados who are not conversant with the electoral law and the constitution of the Labour Party and therefore cannot interpret the Supreme Court judgement of 4th April, 2025. The judgement has simply recognised the supremacy of the Labour Party constitution over her internal affairs, and it is a shame that some people expect INEC to recognise their shameless and illegal demand and upload their names. They had better think twice,” she added.
The crisis has intensified internal divisions within the LP, raising concerns ahead of the party’s forthcoming local government primary elections, ahead of the local council elections in Lagos scheduled for July 12.
While the Nenadi Usman-led faction maintains its legitimacy through political backing from Obi and the Abia State Governor Alex Otti, the Abure-led national leadership continues to hold sway over LP’s structure, which continues to list Dayo Ekong as the Lagos State Chairman on the INEC portal.
With this brewing crisis, party stakeholders fear the development could weaken LP’s chances in the upcoming elections unless a resolution is brokered.
Recently, Yahweh Law Office—a Lagos-based firm representing Mr Oluwasegun Sekonu, a registered party member—wrote a petition to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
The petition challenges the authority of the Ekong-led Lagos State Executive Committee to present candidates for the upcoming elections.
Citing the Supreme Court judgment in Senator Esther Nenadi & Anor vs Labour Party & Anor (Suit No: SC/CV/56/2025), which nullified Abure’s chairmanship, the petition argued that all decisions made under his leadership—including the March 13, 2025, appointment of the Lagos exco—are null and void.
“Any action carried out under the cloak of such unlawful authority – including the Constitution of the State Executive Committee – is null and void ab initio and of no legal effect whatsoever,” said the Principal Partner at Yahweh Law Office, Osato Oforomeh.
Lagos LP Crisis Deepens Over New Caretaker Committee is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
