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2027: Obi Won’t Get Ticket, despite Returning — Labour Party
Labour Party has ruled out the chances of its former Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, from picking its ticket for the 2027 presidential election.
Obi, who ran under the platform of the party in the last general election, came third and gained massive following.
But speaking during an appearance on ARISE Television, Nenadi Usman, interim caretaker committee chairperson of the opposition party, declared that it would be too late for Obi, who left the party for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) last year, to return.
She insisted the party’s rules and electoral procedures leave no room for a late reentry.
Usman said the legal and procedural framework governing the party’s primaries would make such a move impossible.
She said that would take effect once the register of eligible participants is closed and submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“It will actually be too late for him to come back. At some point, we close the register, and once we close it 21 days before the primaries and submit the e-register to INEC, you can’t come from behind the door for us to register you and for you to contest. That would be legally impossible”, she said.
But while firmly shutting down that possibility, Usman acknowledged Obi’s role in elevating the party’s national profile.
“Peter Obi really took the party to great heights in 2023,” she said.
“He convinced me to come with him to the Labour Party. And not just me, many people joined because we believed in equity and fair play”, she said.
The statement comes on the heels of a significant legal victory for the Usman-led camp, after the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Julius Abure challenging earlier rulings linked to the party’s leadership dispute.
According to Usman, the ruling reinforced the legitimacy of the caretaker leadership and cleared the path for rebuilding efforts.
She accused rival interests of weaponising litigation to weaken the party.
“It was a case to destabilise the party. You see one person filing nothing less than eight cases in eight different courts across eight different states, all seeking one relief. That is an abuse of court processes”, she noted.
Usman also disclosed that the party would proceed with congresses leading to a national convention in Umuahia, Abia State, saying the process is designed to restore unity and institutional order.
She said invitations had been extended to all tendencies within the party, including the Abure faction, as part of reconciliation efforts.
“We’ve extended an olive branch. We just want to build the party,” she said.
In what appeared a broader warning against personality driven politics, Usman said the party would resist any attempt to turn its structure into a permanent personal empire.
“We don’t want anybody to perpetuate themselves as chairman for life.
Leadership in a political party has a tenure, you come, you go, but the party should remain,” she added.
She maintained that the Labour Party’s survival would depend on institutions rather than individual political stars.
“The Labour Party is not tied to any one person. By the time we gather for the convention, we will see a more united party”, she submitted.
Her remarks come amid growing speculation over Obi’s political future following internal turbulence in the ADC, where the former Anambra governor moved to after leaving the Labour Party in December 2025.
The speculation had triggered suggestions in political circles that Obi could retrace his steps to the Labour Party.
The emerging contest within ADC has also fueled debates over possible alignments, defections and fallback options if internal tensions in his new platform deepen.
It is against that backdrop that Usman’s remarks are being interpreted as more than a procedural clarification.
They are also being seen as a political signal meant to shut down any notion of a return route for Peter Obi.
The move comes as the Labour Party pushes to reposition itself ahead of the next electoral cycle.
