Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, has declared that “unknown political jesters cannot be allowed to expel,” the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Mr Peter Obi, from LP.
The former Finance Minister was responding to an announcement by a former factional National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi, on a Channels Television show on Tuesday, that the party was planning to expel Obi.
Usman dismissed the announcement as “laughable,” declaring that the party has no plans to hold a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to sack Obi.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman, in a statement signed by her Senior Special Adviser, Ken Eluma Asogwa, described Arabambi and his co-travellers as “a group of political jesters unknown to LP.”
The statement read in part: “The attention of the Labour Party has been drawn to plans by a group of political jesters – unknown to the Party but parading themselves as members – to convene a kangaroo meeting with the aim of sowing confusion and mischief in the ongoing coalition efforts involving His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi.
“These impostors, acting on behalf of shadowy interests, intend to purport an expulsion of Mr. Obi from the Labour Party – a move as laughable as it is illegal.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard the desperate rantings of these meddlesome interlopers whose only mission is to undermine the credibility and towering influence of Mr. Peter Obi in the coalition-building process aimed at rescuing Nigeria.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Labour Party, through a widely circulated statement issued on the 25th of May, 2025, made it categorically clear that Mr. Peter Obi’s involvement in the coalition talks enjoys the full backing and blessing of the leadership of the Party.
“The media and the general public are hereby enjoined to ignore these comedians of politics who are merely performing for their paymasters.
“They are well aware that the sun is fast setting on their charade, and their relevance – anchored solely on attacking Peter Obi – will evaporate the moment he completes his signified intention to join the newly birthed platform.
“This latest drama should be rightly seen for what it is: the desperate last kick of a dying horse.
“It is important to recall that the Supreme Court of Nigeria – the highest judicial authority in the land – has long affirmed in a landmark judgment delivered on 4th April, 2025 that the tenure of these political impersonators expired a long time ago.
“On what legal or moral authority, then, do they stand to make any pronouncement on behalf of the Labour Party?
“The public is therefore strongly advised to treat any statement emanating from these impostors as null and void.
“For accurate and credible information regarding the affairs of the Labour Party, members of the public and the media should, as usual, refer only to the office of the Acting National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman.”
