Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has reaffirmed his membership of the Labour Party amid swirling speculation following a wave of defections by opposition governors to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
News360 Info reports that Otti made the clarification on Thursday during his monthly media parley, held at the Government House in Umuahia.
While fielding questions from journalists about the leadership crisis within the LP, the governor insisted that he and his allies were backing the party’s legally recognised leadership.
“We are on the right side. We have maintained that Abure’s tenure has expired, and we went to court, which affirmed that.
“The court judgement confirmed that his [Abure’s] tenure has expired and advised people to obey court decisions to save the courts from unnecessary troubles,” Otti stated.
Though firm about his current party affiliation, the Abia governor left room for future political possibilities.
“We are not in an election period. If an election comes, we will still run under the Labour Party, but nobody knows tomorrow. But today, I am still in the Labour Party,” he stated.
News360 Info reports that Otti’s comment comes amid heightened political realignments across the country, with two governors recently defecting to the APC and speculation rife about more defections ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Otti’s faction of the Labour Party, led by Nenadi Usman, last week secured a legal victory at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Peter Lifu declared the Usman-led national caretaker committee as the authentic leadership of the party.
The judge also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Usman group as the official representatives of the LP.
In contrast, the Julius Abure-led faction, which is at the centre of the party’s internal dispute, rejected the verdict and vowed to challenge the ruling at the appellate court.
