2027 election: Labour Party revokes automatic tickets for Peter Obi, Alex Otti

…Opens tickets for all qualified Nigerians

The Labour Party (LP) has announced that it will not give automatic tickets to Peter Obi and Alex Otti for the 2027 presidential and gubernatorial elections, respectively. 

This decision was made known during a press briefing by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on Monday.

The party said that it has thrown open all its tickets, from the presidency to the House of Assemblies to all qualified Nigerians.

Recall that the Labour Party said it reserved its 2027 presidential ticket for Peter Obi, its candidate in the 2023 election. 

This was according to a communiqué signed by National Chairman Julius Abure and National Secretary Umar Ibrahim, the party’s convention recommended that the 2027 presidential ticket be solely reserved for Obi, citing his antecedents before, during, and after the 2023 general election.

In a twist of events, the faction also ruled out an automatic second-term ticket for the current Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, on the party’s platform.

Also speaking during the press briefing, Abure, in what appears to be a direct response to the stakeholders’s meeting convened by Governor Otti last week in which a caretaker committee for the party was appointed, said no governor can harass them out of office.

In his words, “No governor that we gave a ticket can harass us out of office; no governor, no matter how highly placed, will come and with a fiat, dissolve the NWC, dissolve state councils, or dissolve LG councils; even a military government would not do that.”

Abure argued that the mandate given to him and his team as leaders of the Labour Party at the convention of the party held on the 27th day of March 2024, will be defended.

Abure also stated that the mandate given to him and his team as leaders of the Labour Party at the convention of the party held on March 27, 2024, will be defended.

This development comes after Governor Otti convened a stakeholders’ meeting last week, where a caretaker committee was appointed for the party. However, Abure has maintained that no governor can harass the party’s leadership out of office.

In a related development, the party has also announced that all nominations for the 2027 elections will be open to all candidates, and no automatic tickets will be given to anyone.

Recall that the Labour Party (LP), at its stakeholders meeting held in Umuahia, Abia State capital, last week Wednesday, appointed Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the party.

Usman, a former Minister of Finance, represented Kaduna South senatorial district from 2011 to 2015.

Immediate-past Senate Minority Deputy Leader, Senator Darlington Nwokocha from Abia Central, was picked as the Secretary of the 29-member committee, expected to complete its assignment in 90 days.