The Labour Party’s leadership feud escalated on Monday as Nenadi Usman’s camp demanded the arrest of Julius Abure former national chairman for allegedly invading the party’s Abuja secretariat.
At a press briefing, Usman accused Abure and his loyalists of forcefully entering the secretariat, threatening officials, destroying party property, and removing sensitive materials.
She said the party had petitioned the police, the DSS, and other agencies to take action, describing the incident as a “criminal operation” and a threat to constitutional democracy.
Abure’s camp, however, dismissed the allegations as “fallacious and laughable,” insisting there was no formal handover of the secretariat.
This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh.
It reads, “As far as we know, we did not hand over the secretariat to Nenadi Usman, and there was actually no need for that because judicial proceedings were ongoing.
“Until the final determination of the matter at the appellate courts, he cannot claim to be the rightful possessor of the office.”
The statement also alleged that Usman’s camp had previously scaled the secretariat fence at around 1 a.m. on February 10, pulling down the party’s billboard and erecting Usman’s own.
“We are therefore calling on the members of the public to disregard the content of that press conference as it was ill-advised, done in bad faith, and was also an attempt to portray the leadership of the party in a bad light,” Ifoh added.
