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The Labour Party (LP) has strongly rejected Senator Nenadi Usman’s alleged attempt to broker an alliance between the party and her former mentor, ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
In a statement on Thursday, March 13, 2025, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, described Usman’s actions as “clearly criminal and must be resisted.”
He emphasized that she is not a registered member of the Labour Party, despite aligning with the party in 2022 to support its presidential candidate.
“Her name is still not on the party’s register, and she is not recognized by the party’s ward, local government, and state chapters,” Ifoh stated.
He reiterated that the party leadership has consistently dismissed any discussions about coalitions, alliances, or mergers. He also criticized Usman’s attempt to involve El-Rufai, calling it audacious given her lack of official affiliation with the party.
He said: “The leadership of the Labour Party, on Tuesday, watched in awe as a one-time Minister of Finance and a former member of the People’s Democratic Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, failed in her bid to transact with the Labour Party in alliance with her mentor and former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.
“Before Tuesday’s shameful but audacious display by Nenadi Usman, many attempts have been made by some desperate politicians to transact with the Labour Party, all ending in the same disastrous fate.
“We are also aware that one other group, which has continued to claim proprietary rights over the Labour Party, indicated in a recent statement an interest in joining this transactional frenzy to obliterate this party, seen by many as the third force Nigerians are yearning for.”
Ifoh accused Usman of attempting to hijack the party without any legitimate standing, stating that the Labour Party would not be treated as merchandise.
“We have repeatedly said that the Labour Party is filled with several transactional politicians whose only purpose in joining the party was to scramble for the soul of the party. This explains the genesis of the crises we have witnessed in the party over the last two years.
“We have continued to warn that the Labour Party is not merchandise that can be bought over the counter. It baffles us how some individuals continue to engage in a futile enterprise whose end is already foretold.
“For emphasis, Senator Usman joined the Labour Party in 2022 in support of our presidential candidate as an unregistered member of the party, and up till now, her name is still not on the party’s register. She is not known to her ward, local government, or state chapters of the party. It is only in Nigeria that some desperate politicians can wake up one morning and begin to claim a position, even if such a position is not supported by any law,” Ifoh said.
He further alleged that Usman’s attempt to impose herself on the party stemmed from an agenda backed by undisclosed political figures.
“Today, it is becoming manifest why she forced her way to assume an illegal and ill-conceived transitional chairmanship of the Labour Party. Also, the unseen hands that have urged and funded her covert agenda are beginning to emerge from hiding.”
Ifoh pointed out that Usman had previously taken the party to court in an unsuccessful attempt to dissolve its leadership.
He said: “Nigerians must know that Nenadi Usman dragged the party to the courts, seeking to have the entire executive of the party—from the ward, local government, and state to the national level—sacked, and she lost in both the lower and appeal courts. She was barely two years old as a non-card-carrying member of the party at that time. Today, even though the six-month illegal mandate given to her in Umuahia has since elapsed, she is still sitting in a non-existent office.”
He also criticized her presence at El-Rufai’s defection event to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), calling it an act of anti-party behavior.
The LP spokesperson said: “In her media release, she claimed that she was invited by her colleague in the SDP to witness El-Rufai’s defection. Imagine a supposed party leader saying ‘they’ received El-Rufai into the opposition fold. Was it a CNPP event?
“It’s laughable that a supposed party leader, who was ‘appointed’ to drive reforms in the Labour Party, went to the SDP, sitting beside El-Rufai, to engage in anti-party activities and claim she was invited by the leadership of another political party.
“Why didn’t they invite the chairmen of the other opposition political parties? This is a shallow defense and most unfortunate from Senator Nenadi Usman. Her motives have now been exposed, and we urge her to stop playing double games.”
Reaffirming the party’s stance, Ifoh stated that while individuals are free to join or leave any political party, any attempt to trade Labour Party’s influence would not be tolerated.
“Finally, we want to state emphatically that we are not against any individual leaving or joining any political party of their choice, provided that, if elected into office on the ticket of a political party, such a person relinquishes the mandate.
“If, therefore, Nenadi Usman wants to join any other political party, she is free to do so, but transacting with the Labour Party is criminal, and it must be resisted,” Ifoh declared.
The post ‘Shameful But Audacious Display’ – Labour Party Rejects Moves To Form Alliance With El-Rufai, SDP appeared first on Naija News.
