Labour Party's High Chief, Peter Ameh has defended Peter Obi, the party's 2023 presidential candidate, following controversy over Obi's involvement in a new anti-APC coalition.
Ameh's defense comes after a faction of the Labour Party, led by Julius Abure, issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Obi to resign.
Ameh described the ultimatum as "irrelevant" and rooted in panic from political actors who feel threatened by the emerging alliance.
“There’s no official record that Peter Obi has left the Labour Party,” Ameh said during a Newsnight interview. “He remains a member and has every right to engage in coalition talks aimed at rescuing the country.”
The coalition, formed under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), aims to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
According to Ameh, the coalition including prominent figures such as Atiku Abubakar, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, and Malam Nasir El-Rufai, could signal a potential realignment in Nigeria's political landscape.
“What we’re seeing is not disloyalty—it’s leadership,” Ameh declared. “You cannot change Nigeria by standing alone. The idea is to bring everyone under one umbrella to present a credible, people-first government.”
He argued that Obi, unlike others, brings an unmatched grassroots appeal and credibility, having earned over 6 million votes in 2023 without traditional political machinery behind him.
While the Abure-led faction attempts to portray Obi’s coalition involvement as disloyal, the Nenadi Usman faction of the party, to which Ameh belongs, has issued a counter-statement affirming that Obi’s alliance-building efforts are permitted and supported.
“This is clearly an internal conflict playing out publicly,” Ameh said. “But let’s not confuse factional noise with party policy.”
He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its allies of weaponising internal Labour Party tensions to delegitimise the coalition before it fully takes shape.
Ameh rejected comparisons to the pre-2015 APC merger, calling those alliances “opportunistic,” while emphasising that the current coalition is vision-driven.
“This is not about removing Tinubu for sport,” he said. “It’s about installing a government that works—fiscally responsible, socially inclusive, and economically forward-looking.”
He said Obi’s message—transitioning Nigeria from a consumption-based economy to a production-oriented one—remains the coalition’s moral and policy compass.
Asked whether the North would trust Obi’s alleged offer to serve only one term if elected, Ameh dismissed the skepticism.
“The North understands sacrifice when the intention is genuine,” he said. “And Peter Obi has shown that he’s not in this for personal power, but to fix what’s broken.”
He said discussions within the coalition remain open, including power rotation, consensus building, and a fair process to select the eventual 2027 presidential candidate.
“This is not about ego. It’s about unity, direction, and shared sacrifice,” he said. “Peter Obi isn’t just welcome at the table—he helped build it.”
As political temperatures rise, the battle lines are being drawn—not just between parties, but within them. With Obi refusing to bow to internal pressure and the coalition gaining momentum, the question is no longer if a new political force will emerge, but how united and credible it will be by 2027.
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