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Thepledge Big Story: 2027: Can Labour Party Survive Without Peter Obi?
By Augustine Akhilomen
The 2023 elections, particularly that of the presidential, will always be remembered for the sudden reinvigoration of the Labour Party, (LP) into a strong opposition party that caused shock waves in the political firmaments of Nigeria.
The party caused so much waves and surprises that it even went on to defeat the most formidable political party in Lagos state, The All Progressive Party (APC), to the surprise of political observers.
LP was formed in 2002 as the Party for Social Democracy and was established by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Its name was officially changed to the Labour Party after the 2003 general election.
However, even before the registration exercise, the Labour Party was an organizational reality. This is more of a given, its antecedents, which derive from a rich heritage of progressive and labour-based intervention in national politics, dating back to the struggle for national independence from British colonialism.
But then, the party’s success and achievements has been credited to Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, and former governor of Anambra State, who was able to win the attention of the youths, popularly known as the ‘Obidients’, the middle class and most especially, Nigerians who were yearning for a change.
Originally from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Obi left the party on May 22, 2022, presumably, after the party threw the presidential contest open as against its zoning policy enshrined in its constitution, which later saw former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as their flagbearer.
The former Anambra governor was warmly welcomed by the Labour Party’s leaders and in turn was given the automatic ticket to run for the 2023 presidential election, which the party finished very strongly despite not having strong grassroots structures like the PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC).
With the 2023 election done and dusted, attention now turns towards the 2027 election, where the Labour Party will be hoping to dislodge the ruling party and its candidate president Bola Ahmed Tinubu from being re-elected into power.
However, many political observers believe that the party will struggle to make any relevant headway without Peter Obi as their presidential candidate and some members of the party are divided in giving him an automatic ticket.
Recall that the recent crisis within the party saw the Labour Party caretaker committee reject Abure’s chairmanship claim, asserting their authority based on the mandate from party stakeholders.
The 29-member caretaker committee, established by Abia State Governor Alex Otti and the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, warned Julius Abure to stop presenting himself as the party’s national chairman.
Just a few days ago, Kenneth Okonkwo, former spokesman for the Labour Party campaign council in the 2023 general election, announced his departure from the party, saying it’s a sinking ship. This further diminished the party’s chances in the general elections.
Political observers are now beginning to wonder if the LP is truly a sinking ship going by the leadership crisis rocking the party or the party is merely passing through a phase in its development and attempt to be a formidable force in the politics of the country?
Hence, can the party survive without the former Anambra governor as the sole flagbearer in the 2027 presidential election, going by the crisis currently rocking it? These are some of the concerns of stakeholders and lovers of Peter Obi. Not a few were of the opinion that the Labour Party’s impressive outing at the last election was due to the popularity of Obi and they are also of the view that the party has failed overtime to build on what they achieved in 2023. Some also believe there are outsiders who are trying to destabilise the party and make it less stable and attractive to Nigerians before the next election.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi, came out to tell Nigerians that the party would field Peter Obi as its candidate in the 2027 general elections. He also said that Tinubu would not have a smooth sail in the next general polls.
“Tinubu is not just going to have it very easy in 2027; we are coming back with that Peter Obi to them so that they will know we are very serious,” he said.
“There is no leadership crisis in the Labour Party. The Labour Party is not going into extinction. It is just a figment of the imaginations of most of our detractors,” Arabambi stated.
Speaking on the development, a political analyst at the University of Lagos, Lawrence Akanbi, told Thepledge that it will be difficult for the Labour Party to pull the same crowd or supporters that they had in 2023 if Peter Obi is not with the party in 2027.
“It will be a tough mountain for the Labour Party to climb without Peter Obi in their ranks in the 2027 presidential election. He has won the hearts of many Nigerians despite not winning the 2023 election.
“He remains LP’s best candidate that can compete with Tinubu. Any attempt to push him aside will spell doom for the party.”
In the same vein, a political commentator, Biyi Alao, in a chat with Thepledge warned that LP won’t exist again without Peter Obi. “Many Nigerians are supporting LP because of Peter Obi’s personality, which was on display at the 2023 election.
“There is no doubt that LP won’t survive without Peter Obi in 2027. In fact, they don’t have a candidate like him at the moment.
“It will be wise that they stick with him if they are to challenge Tinubu in 2027. He’s their best candidate at the moment.
With months to the 2027 election, it is expected that Peter Obi and the Labour Party will work hand-in-hand to fix some of the loopholes that created setbacks for the party in a bid to have a stiff challenge for the precious prize.
Beyond this however, is the bigger picture, which proponents of a coalition opposition party are saying is a better option for Obi to take into consideration when looking at the various options before making a decision about his presidential ambition. This, they argued, will help him in taking concrete decisions about his political future.
“Peter Obi will have to look at the various options before making a decision. The first one is can he win a presidential election without joining forces with other opposition parties to form a formidable coalition? This is because it is becoming increasingly clear that none of the opposition figures can win an election on their own without coming together to form a winning coalition”, says Tunde Aremu, a Lagos based political analyst.
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to setting the power sector on the path of sustainability and bankability, by prioritising the different reforms being undertaken in the sector. This is critical to the economic growth and development of the nation.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu disclosed this on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at the Mission 300 Stakeholders Engagement meeting, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, where he announced that the estimated investment required for the Mission 300 Compact is $32.8 billion, with $15.5 billion expected from the private sector. The Mission is to provide electricity to 300million unserved people in Africa.
He said the stakeholders meeting would provide an opportunity for them to align, strategize, and to build the partnerships needed to move from Nigeria Energy Compact, to concrete results, as he called on development partners, the private sector, philanthropic actors, the public sector, and the civil society organizations to rally around this mission.
“Mobilizing this level of financing will demand innovation, coordination, and a shared commitment.
“In this room today are many of the institutions and individuals who can help us shape the future of Nigeria’s energy sector. Let us take this opportunity to ask hard questions, identify the practical solutions, and develop actionable plans that will make universal access a reality not just in the policy space, but in the daily lives of our citizens by powering our hospitals, our schools, our industries, and our homes”, Adelabu said.
He announced the priorities of the government in power sector reforms to include “adressing the market liquidity issues and initiating required sector reforms”.
“Currently”, he added, “there’s a huge outstanding debt to the Power Generation companies in the form of unpaid government subsidies which stands at about ₦4trn as of December 2024. The Federal Government is already working out modalities to defray this obligation and to ensure that further obligations are not accrued going forward, the government is working on a plan to transition the sector to a fully cost-reflective regime while implementing targeted subsidies for the economically vulnerable citizens in the country.
“Improving our power generation through recovery of idle capacities and expanding energy mix to ensure energy security, and to dilute the power pool with cheaper and cleaner energy sources”.
Other areas he identified included “Expanding transmission infrastructure to deliver more power, ensuring stability of the national grid to put and end to several grid disturbances and collapses previously observed on the grid, and to further strengthen the coordination and management of the national grid.
“Ensuring viability and performance improvement of the distribution segment of the power sector through strategic programs like the Presidential Metering Initiative and the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP)”.
The Minister also said that the Power Ministry is pursuing increased renewable energy through its rural electrification and energy transition drive, to provide a reliable power supply to unserved and underserved communities.
Through its training institute, the Ministry is also working to improve human capital and local content development in the sector to reduce import dependence, stimulate jobs, and build a homegrown energy industry.
“I assure you”, he continued “that the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is fully committed to this vision and through the Federal Ministry of Power, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, we will continue to champion reforms, promote innovation, and partner with all stakeholders to deliver a sustainable energy future”.
He expressed the appreciation of the Federal Government to the World Bank Group under the leadership of Mr Ajay Banga and the African Development Bank under the leadership of the out going Managing Director of the Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and Sustainable Energy for All for taking on this mission to connect 300 million people across Africa to electricity by the year 2030 through the Mission 300 initiative, saying, “this ambition reflects our shared belief that energy access is a fundamental issue that must be urgently addressed to unlock economic potential of the continent”.
According to Adelabu, in January 2025 at the Dar es Salaam Africa Energy Summit, President Tinubu joined eleven other African Heads of State in endorsing the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration and formally committing to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Mission 300.
“We presented our National Energy Compact, a bold statement of intent and ambition to fast-track access to both electricity and clean cooking for all Nigerians with the aim of achieving universal access by 2030 by increasing the rate of electricity access from 4 percent to 9 percent per annum and raising access to clean cooking from 22 percent to 25 percent per annum”, he said.
The Minister of Finance, Chief Wale Edun, who spoke through zoom from Brazil also said that the reforms the government was undertaking in the power sector were critical towards unlocking the full potentials of the economy as it would lead to job creation. He said the reforms have led to over 40 percent increase in power distribution in the first quarter of 2025.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Nnaji, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the World Bank Officers, head of agencies in the Power Ministry, and partners of the sector.
During the plenary on Tuesday, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, clarified the Senate’s position, underpinning that the upper chamber has been diligent in attending to bills forwarded by the House.
Responding to recent claims that the Senate had failed to act on over 140 House-passed bills, including several sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the Senate leader disclosed that the Senate considered no fewer than six concurrence bills just last week.
The Senate President said, “We cannot joke with concurrence bills from the House of Representatives, we are committed to working together in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. It takes two hands to clap.”
This reaction by the Senate leadership followed a slight tension experienced at the House of Representatives last week when members of the green chamber resolved to suspend further consideration of bills originating from the Senate, citing what it described as persistent delays in legislative concurrence from the red chamber.
But Bamidele, while presenting one of the bills from the House during plenary on Tuesday, explained that the Senate has remained consistent in processing concurrence bills in line with constitutional responsibilities.
He said, “For the record, we have been doing what we are supposed to do. Only last week, the Senate concurred on six bills from the House of Representatives. We know we have the principle of reciprocity that governs our operations, but this does not necessarily mean garbage in, garbage out.
“We have the duty, as the foremost democratic institution in the country, to exercise due diligence on the bills. We will continue to consider concurrence bills from the House of Representatives in the same way they considered our bills. We will ensure that it is given attention in overriding public interest. I just want to say this for the record.”
The leadership assured the public that the Senate remained committed to a productive and cooperative relationship with the House of Representatives, underscoring that legislative harmony is essential for national progress.
At the resumed hearing of the money laundering case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the former governor, his counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, told the court that he had filed an application, dated 19th June, 2025 and filed on June 20, 2025.
“It seeks an order for the release of the 1st defendant/applicant’s international passport by the Registrar of the court to enable him to travel for medical attention,” he said.
The counsel said the application was predicated on 13 grounds in the face of the motion paper and supported by 22 paragraphs affidavit deposed to by Yahaya Bello himself.
The EFCC Counsel had filed a counter-affidavit, saying granting the request could delay further proceedings.
Daudu, SAN, in response to the prosecution team’s counter-affidavit, said the Defendant’s team had also filed a further affidavit of 20 paragraphs, filed on July 7, 2025, and deposed to by the applicant himself with two exhibits.
“Exhibits C is the Certified True Copy of the ruling of your lordship, admitting the defendant to bail and Exhibit D is the ruling of the Federal High Court also admitting him to bail.
“We adopt these documents in urging your lordship to grant our application,” he stated.
Responding to the Prosecution’s argument that the application was an abuse of court process in the sense that a similar application was filed at Federal High Court, Daudu argued that it could not be an abuse of court process.
He hinged his argument on the fact that it was the complainant that instituted the two separate charges in the separate courts.
“It will be a futile exercise to apply in one court and not to apply in the other court,” Daudu, SAN submitted.
The prosecution counsel, Chukwudi Enebele, SAN, while defending the EFCC’s counter-affidavit, said Yahaya Bello should have put his sureties on notice with regard to his application to travel out of the country.
According to him, the sureties need to decide whether they would want to continue to stand as sureties for him when he travels.
He added that by filing the same application at both the FCT High Court and Federal High Court, the Defendant’s Counsel were setting the courts on a collision course.
“If Federal High Court refuses that application and my lord grants it, it will make mockery of our Judicial system,” the EFCC lawyer argued.
Responding, Daudu SAN said, on the issue of suretyship, the sureties were already aware.
“We need not put them on notice,” he said.
“Finally, on the interpol matter, Daudu said that the issue of Interpol likely to arrest the applicant is a dead argument, the applicant having submitted himself for trial.
“He has never flouted your lordship’s order. They themselves have even forgotten about those red alerts,” the lawyer added, urging the court to grant the application.
After listening to both parties, Justice Anenih adjourned the case to July 17, 2025 for ruling.
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