The internal crisis plaguing the Labour Party (LP) escalated on Thursday as Callistus Okafor, one of its four factional national chairmen, announced his departure from the party.
Other individuals claiming leadership of the LP include the incumbent Julius Abure, former Deputy Chairman Lamidi Apapa, and Nenadi Usman, head of the National Caretaker Committee.
Okafor, a former National Vice-Chairman of the LP, made the announcement during a press conference in Abuja.
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He stated, “My team and I had carefully looked at what is happening in the Labour Party, including the crises that have been going on for seven years, and wondered how long it will continue. In the last one week, the National Working Committee and the National Executive Council of my faction met separately and took a decision.”
Okafor declared his intention to leave the Labour Party with an estimated five million supporters, announcing their new destination as Team Wazobia Nigeria, a socio-political and non-partisan movement.
“I hereby stand today to announce to Nigerians and all the Labour Party faithful who are under my own faction that we are pulling out today as a team and leaving with our over five million supporters under my control, as a factional national chairman of the Labour Party,” he proclaimed. “We are moving from the Labour Party to Team Wazobia Nigeria, a socio-political and non-partisan movement. This crisis has come to a point where it’s no longer healthy in the Labour Party.”
Among his reasons for quitting, Okafor cited the perceived nonchalance and failure of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to resolve the persistent leadership crisis.
He argued that if Obi cannot manage an internal conflict within a smaller party like the LP, he would be unable to handle a complex institution like Nigeria.
“When His Excellency, Peter Obi joined us in 2022, what did he do?” Okafor questioned.
“He supported Abure, who has become his archenemy today. He supported him in everything he did despite the warning by our former National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara, about his several embezzlements of Labour Party money. But he never said anything and that partly contributed to his loss at the 2023 election. As they say, charity begins at home. Unfortunately, this is the man the media portrays as a good man who could not keep us in the Labour Party together. This is the time for reality. So, if he can’t govern the Labour Party, for me, he can’t govern Nigeria. And that is why I have to leave.”
However, Okafor ruled out the possibility of defecting to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He commented, “I don’t know whether to say their crisis is worse than that of the Labour Party. You can see their governors and National Assembly members defecting every day into APC. What it means is that APC is the appealing party as of today. As of today, Mr President seems to be the only candidate ready even though he has not declared his intention for 2027.”
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