Usman, a former Minister of Finance, said Abure should stop issuing threats and act if he has evidence against anyone.
The caretaker chairperson of the Labour Party (LP), Nenadi Usman, has challenged factional national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, to follow through on his threat to “expose” her and other senior party members, including Peter Obi and Abia Governor, Alex Otti.
Usman issued the challenge during an interview on Channels TV programme, on Friday, in response to Abure’s remarks earlier in the week where he warned of potential revelations about internal dealings during the 2023 election cycle.
“I am waiting for them, from top to bottom, to make any other move and I will open my mouth,” Abure had said on Monday.
“And when I open my mouth, wherever they go to, they will be like smelly eggs, rotten eggs that nobody will ever buy.”
Responding, Usman, a former Minister of Finance, said Abure should stop issuing threats and act if he has evidence against anyone.
“Well, I am challenging him to expose us. If you have anybody to expose, you don’t go and talk now, you go and expose them,” she said.
She also claimed that the party possesses incriminating records regarding Abure’s conduct and revealed that some of his actions are currently under police investigation.
“We have a lot of things about him and that is why the people whom he did it to went to the police,” Usman said.
“The police are investigating him and very soon you will hear about it.”
The Labour Party has been embroiled in a fierce leadership tussle, with the Usman-led caretaker committee, supported by Obi, Otti, and Senator Ireti Kingibe, on one side, and Abure’s camp on the other.
Usman said the ongoing crisis is rooted in a disregard for internal democracy within the party.
“Generally, you would agree with me that every democracy needs to have a vibrant opposition,” she said.
“So when the opposition wants to become part of the ruling party, then there’s a problem. And that is where we are today.”
She insisted that Abure’s tenure had ended, prompting intervention by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resolve the resulting leadership vacuum.
“Principally, the Labour Party leadership at some point had issues with INEC because the tenure of Abure and his NWC had come to an end,” Usman explained.
“Which was why when INEC invited leaders of political parties, he attended the meeting and was told to step out with his secretary.”
Usman noted that though Abure initially secured a court ruling compelling INEC to continue recognising him as chairman, the Supreme Court later ruled that the lower courts lacked jurisdiction in the matter.
“We went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court looked at the issue critically and said the two lower courts didn’t have any jurisdiction,” she said.
“They said his tenure was over, he is not the chairman, he’s no longer the chairman of the Labour Party.”
She cited Justice Inyang Okoro’s comments in the ruling, urging political leaders to step down honorably at the end of their tenures.
“Justice Okoro even went on to advise that ‘please, leaders, when your tenure comes to an end in an office, please kindly leave honourably’,” she added.
According to Usman, INEC’s directive was for the party to conduct fresh congresses at all levels, from ward to national, to elect new leaders.
“If INEC says you don’t have leaders, your leadership, their tenure is over, then go and start having congresses,” she stated.
The NEC of the party, she said, subsequently appointed a caretaker committee to oversee the transition and organise new elections.
“They said what we should do is get together a committee that would come conduct all these congresses so that at the end of the day, we’ll have properly elected leaders,” Usman said.
She added that Abure is free to contest again but accused him of attempting to hold onto power by exploiting the judiciary.
“Even Julius Abure, if he still wants to remain chairman, he could go through the election,” she said.
“But he doesn’t want to go through the election, his NWC, they don’t want to go through the election.
“They just want to be using the courts to remain as leaders. I think that’s not good for the opposition.”
The Labour Party crisis reached a new peak in early May.
On May 7, Abure’s faction suspended Governor Otti and Senator Kingibe for alleged anti-party activities.
Two days later, Usman’s faction responded by suspending Abure, accusing him of illegally parading himself as chairman despite the Supreme Court ruling.
As both factions continue to trade accusations and legal interpretations of the apex court verdict, the future leadership and unity of the Labour Party remain uncertain.
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