Abure rules out backing Obi’s NDC in 2027

Julius Abure, the Labour Party’s immediate past national chairman, said his faction would not support Peter Obi or Obi’s Nigeria Democratic Congress in the 2027 presidential election, leaving its next alignment dependent in part on a pending Supreme Court case over Labour Party leadership. Abure said he was not negotiating with any candidate. He told Punch that if the court had not ruled by the end of November, his group would consult supporters and consider offers that matched its interests and ideology and came from a candidate it regarded as broadly acceptable. He did not name a preferred alternative, though he said his faction was open to aligning with others, including President Bola Tinubu or former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Abure’s position is tied to a long-running dispute over control of the Labour Party. He accused Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti of dismantling party structures from ward to national level and argued that Obi had squandered the goodwill and organizational resources behind his 2023 campaign. Those are Abure’s allegations and assessments. He also predicted Obi would perform below his 2023 showing. Obi’s camp rejected Abure’s intervention. NDC...