The Labour Party has acknowledged that the exit of its former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, left a significant gap within the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, made this known on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme while reacting to Obi’s recent association with the African Democratic Congress-led coalition.
“We can’t deny the fact that we lost Peter Obi, and he was a major force within the party. His departure created a vacuum,” Asogwa said.
He explained that the party had anticipated Obi’s departure before it officially occurred on December 31 and had already started putting measures in place to reduce the political impact.
“Even before he left, there were already speculations about his exit. The new leadership had taken several steps to cushion the effect before it eventually happened,” he stated.
According to him, the Labour Party later began restructuring efforts aimed at strengthening its political base and internal structure.
Asogwa noted that the party identified the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress as its strongest institutional allies and worked towards restoring their relationship with the party.
“We realised that the Labour Party’s biggest strength lies in its institutional members through the NLC and TUC. We were able to reconnect and bring them back after they were previously alienated,” he added.
Despite Obi’s exit, the spokesperson maintained that the party still has the political strength to present another strong presidential candidate in 2027.
“The Labour Party still has the capacity, even stronger capacity now, to produce another candidate of equal stature,” Asogwa said.
The development comes months after the Julius Abure-led faction of the party reportedly gave Obi a 48-hour ultimatum to formally resign following his involvement in the opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress.
Obi was recently unveiled among key opposition figures in the ADC coalition formed to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Reacting earlier, Labour Party spokesman Obiora Ifoh accused Obi of maintaining “dual political loyalties” and described the coalition as a gathering of “power seekers.
