2027: Abure Dumps Obi, Considers Tinubu, Atiku

The immediate past National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has declared his willingness to support President Bola Tinubu or former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election.

Abure ruled out any possibility of backing former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi.

He said his decision on which presidential candidate to support would depend on the outcome of the ongoing leadership dispute within the Labour Party, his political interests and ideology, as well as the acceptability of the candidate.

He also threatened to mobilise his political supporters against Obi, accusing the former Labour Party presidential candidate of wasting the goodwill, human resources and political structure that contributed to his performance in the 2023 general election.

The former LP chairman made his position known in an interview with The Punch.

According to Abure, he is waiting for the Supreme Court to deliver its judgment on the Labour Party leadership dispute. However, he said that if the court failed to deliver its ruling before the end of November, he would consult his supporters and consider offers from interested presidential candidates.

He said, “As for me, we are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide our case, and if the judgment is not coming before the end of this November, we will rationalise the offer of whoever wants our support.

“However, it must tally with our interest and ideology, and he must be a sellable candidate. Once these are settled, our faces will be everywhere. I am talking about the same faces that took Peter Obi everywhere in 2023.”

Abure maintained that although he was willing to work with other major political candidates, Obi was not among those he would consider supporting in 2027.

He drew a comparison with a statement attributed to former Head of State Ibrahim Babangida, saying he was certain about the candidate he would not support but had yet to decide who would receive his backing.

He stated, “We are open to working with any of the major candidates, but as former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, said, ‘I know whom I will not hand over to. But I don’t know who I will hand over to.’

“So, similarly, I am very sure that I wouldn’t support Peter Obi for the 2027 general election. But I am open to an alignment with others.”

The former LP chairman specifically ruled out the Nigeria Democratic Congress because of Obi’s presence in the party, insisting that he had no intention of supporting the former governor again.

He, however, clarified that he was not currently negotiating with Tinubu, Atiku or any other presidential candidate, stressing that his political decision would also reflect the interests of his supporters.

“Yes, obviously the NDC is not included. I don’t see any reason to support Peter Obi again. I will not. And I am saying this with conviction and without any fear of contradiction. However, as of now, I am not in talks with any candidate yet. This is because it’s not just about me. It’s also about my followers and their interests,” Abure said.

He further claimed that many of his supporters remained loyal to the political structure he controlled before the Labour Party leadership crisis, despite some members leaving for other political platforms.

Abure accused Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti of dismantling his leadership structure, alleging that members loyal to him were removed from party positions across the country, from the ward level to the national leadership.

“Right now, they are standing by the structure of the party, the same one Otti and the illegal leadership he forced on the Labour Party sacked from wards, states to national level. What these people did to this party was a big disservice. But we know that I was their target,” he said.

“Obi’s behaviour in the Labour Party is now what people are using to assess if he can truly lead the country. This is because if you can’t lead a micro, there is no way you can lead a macro,” he stated.

He also criticised Obi’s political movement from the Labour Party to the African Democratic Congress and subsequently the NDC, alleging that the former governor expected to reproduce the leadership struggle he experienced in the Labour Party.

Asked whether Obi would enjoy the same freedom and political influence he allegedly had under his leadership in the Labour Party, Abure said the situation in the NDC was different.

He argued that the party’s national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, remained firmly in control and would not allow Obi to exercise the same level of influence he enjoyed in the Labour Party.

“No way! Let Obi compare the freedom and leverage he enjoyed under our leadership to what he is experiencing in the NDC; he already knows the difference. You can see that Senator Dickson is fully in charge and he’s not giving up the party’s leadership,” Abure said.

He added that Dickson had learnt from the Labour Party crisis and was determined to prevent a similar leadership dispute in the NDC.

Assessing Obi’s chances in the 2027 presidential election, Abure predicted that the former governor would perform below his 2023 electoral record, when he secured more than six million votes.

“Let me say clearly that Obi will not record the successes he recorded in the 2023 general election. That is because he has squandered his goodwill, human capital, resources, and mismanaged all the gains he had in 2023,” he said.

However, the NDC and Obi’s camp dismissed Abure’s comments, saying they were no longer concerned about the former Labour Party chairman and were focused on preparing for the 2027 presidential election.

The spokesperson for the NDC Presidential Campaign Council, Constance Ikokwu, said Obi was concentrating on his campaign and efforts to lead what she described as a national movement to change the country’s direction.

Ikokwu said, “Mr Peter Obi is fully occupied with the campaign trail, focused on the important task of leading a national effort towards the 2027 presidential contest, an election that offers Nigerians an opportunity to rescue the country and change its direction.

“In the light of that, all we can say is good luck to Mr Julius Abure in his new ventures.”

Similarly, Obi’s media aide, Idris Zekeri, said the former LP chairman was no longer relevant to the campaign’s immediate priorities, adding that the team had moved on from the leadership dispute that rocked the Labour Party.

“We no longer talk about Abure. We have moved on from them. We have an election less than 70 days away, and then we are campaigning,” Zekeri said.

He urged Nigerians who believed in equity, justice, fairness, capacity, compassion and competence to support Obi, whom he described as the most qualified candidate to move the country forward.

Although he acknowledged that not every Nigerian would support the former governor, Zekeri said political differences were part of the democratic process.

He also suggested that Abure’s decision to reject Obi was motivated by personal grievances rather than national interest.

“The individual you mentioned (Abure) has now said he doesn’t want to support Obi, and his reason for that was that he has an axe to grind. I think he should be asking himself why he should place his personal sentiment and belief above national interest. But that is up to him.

“However, we are not discussing him. He is not critical to what we are doing at this time,” he added.