Edo Labour Party Blames Peter Obi for Crisis, Defends Abure Against Mama Pee's Claims

The Edo State Labour Party has blamed Peter Obi for the crisis rocking the party while defending Julius Abure against Mama P’s claims.

Benin City, Edo State – September 30, 2025
EdoToday reports that the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has alleged that the crisis rocking the party nationwide stems from the actions of its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and not the party’s National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.

Speaking at a press briefing in Benin City on Monday, the State Chairman of the party, Hon. Elizabeth Ativie, dismissed allegations recently made against Abure by Ms. Precious Oruche, popularly known as Mama P.

Ativie claimed that Oruche’s social media posts, which accused Abure of frustrating Nigerians and being declared wanted by the police for alleged forgery, were false and aimed at discrediting the party leadership.

According to Ativie, Mr. Obi’s failure to address post-primary election disputes across the country created the foundation for the ongoing crisis. She further alleged that during the 2024 Edo governorship election, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party resolved to zone the governorship ticket to Edo Central Senatorial District in line with similar decisions by the APC and PDP.

However, she accused Obi of ignoring the party’s internal decision and endorsing Barrister Olumide Akpata as governorship candidate during his visit to Benin.

“First, we want to state clearly here that the problem in the Labour Party was created by Peter Obi,” Ativie said.

“It was him and Dr. Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, that convened the ill-fated and illegally expanded stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, September 4, 2024, for the sole purpose of removing a legally constituted National Working Committee of the party through underhand means. Ever since that nocturnal meeting, the party became factionalised.”

She alleged that despite promises and inducements, the plan to dislodge the NWC did not succeed, but the move left the party divided.

Ativie described Obi as “desperate to control the soul of the party,” accusing him of disregarding the goodwill extended to him by the LP leadership during his 2023 presidential campaign.

“This is a man who received so much goodwill from the party leadership; a man we laboured for without even a bicycle as a donation to the party; a man we risked our lives for canvassing through the Sambisa area during the campaigns; a man we stood by all through the legal tussles, even with so much pressure on us, yet we refused to abandon him,” she said.

“Yet, the best way to show appreciation was to bite the fingers that fed him. This is why we have maintained that Peter Obi lacks the competence, character and capacity to actualise the vision of a new Nigeria. And we call on Nigerians to beware of such a character whose personal ambition is the only thing that matters to him.”

The press conference comes amid ongoing internal wrangling within the Labour Party, with factions at both national and state levels making conflicting claims about the party’s direction and leadership.