Prof Chris Nwaokobia is a lawyer, public affairs analyst and Convener of Country First Movement. In this interview, he speaks on recent developments in the Labour Party (LP) and the planned coalition by opposition parties, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

Would you say that the latest development in the Labour Party concerning its leadership crisis is good news, and how long do you think that will endure?

Let me say that the Supreme Court removed Julius Abure. That’s the word. Because what happened was, sometime last year, there was a meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, where certain leaders were nominated to head the Labour Party.

That was how Nenadi Usman and several other persons were appointed to head the party on an interim basis until a national convention is conducted, where valid executives would be elected. Now, it was upon that decision that Abure went to court. The court of first instance, the High Court, gave him a judgement.

The Court of Appeal gave him judgement. But then, the Supreme Court said that his case was not meritorious, and invariably asked him to go because the leadership of any party is the exclusive preserve of the party. And the party leaders have said, we want a new tendency, we want a new leisure life. But upon that judgement, Julius Abure has gone to town to say that nobody removed him.

Lamidi Apapa suddenly resurfaced to say he is a valid leader. Don’t forget that the highest elected officer or official, if you like, of the party is Alex Otti. And don’t forget that, as it were, following what happened in 2023, Peter Obi assumed the leadership of the party. These leaders met to say, this is the way to go.

We must have Nenadi Usman steer the party onto the national convention and I don’t think there’s any problem with it. I’ve always said that politics is the biggest business in Nigeria. So, there’s this tendency to kill if you like, fight if you like. I am a member of the Labour Party. I’m a leading Obidient. One of the Big Tent offices in Abuja was donated by me.

That’s how close I am to the party and I understand that Nenadi Usman and her team are working on a timetable for a national convention, beginning from the local government to the federal level, where we’ll have brand new executives for the party, and that’s the way to go.

How would this internal wrangling make the Labour Party serve as a credible opposition, knowing that we have an election coming up in two years time and how much damage do you think has been done so far to the Labour Party?

So much damage, if you ask me. After that boisterous outing in 2023, where, with all sense of respect, the Labour Party did win the election, but you know what happened, and after that outcome, the infighting and the party have done so much damage.

So many of our trusted hands and allies walked away because they didn’t know why Abure wouldn’t let the party survive. For me, as late as last year, I had a meeting with Abure, and I said to him this is a time for sacrifice.

If you truly care about the people, if you truly care about the manifesto of the party, let go and let this party come alive. But what is very important now, going into the politics of 2027 and perhaps the Anambra State governorship election. I’ve said to people who care to listen that what happened in 2013-2014 is instructive.

If you want to take out a strongman, you must be strong enough to remove the strongman. And in 2013-2014, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) lost its life, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) lost its life. Some segment of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and all of us joined in forming a merger that became the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Now, if you want to take out President Bola Tinubu who’s strong and who’s in power, you must advocate a merger of strong tendencies, albeit ideologically. And so, for those who care to understand my sentiments, yes, make the Labour Party strong, so that in the event of a merger, it has a strong place in the merger.

Whether we like it or not, there must be a coalition of strong forces. The PDP, if they are willing, must be ready to lose their lives. The SDP must be ready to lose its life. The Labour Party and several other parties must be ready to say, we want a new Nigeria that works on ideology.

And for that reason, we’re forming a new party, perhaps a Progressive Peoples Party, perhaps a Nigerian Peoples Party, but there must be a strong merger of forces and tendencies that will salvage this country from the present malaise.

When you say merger, there have been big names that have been bandied around. We’ve seen the likes of Atiku Abubakar and Nasir El-Rufai. Are these the sort of individuals you’re saying have to be in the Labour Party?

Interestingly, if you understand the business of politics and how it operates, power is never served a la carte. So, you need all kinds of tendencies. But what is very important is that in pushing those tendencies, in pushing for a coalition, in pushing for a merger, you have an ideological foundation. El-Rufai has followers. Atiku has followers.

If you want to take out President Tinubu who’s strong and who’s in power, you must advocate a merger of strong tendencies, albeit ideologically

He has a reason to want the APC out of power. So, normally, they say your enemy’s enemy is your friend. Atiku has monumental followers

. Your enemy’s enemy is your friend. If you want a coalition that can take out the present order, albeit like I’ve insisted, on ideological foundations, you must reach out to every tendency and ensure that at some point you dot the I’s and cross the T’s, and they must be predicated at putting the people first, country first. That’s what I think.

But for that to happen successfully, somebody has to stoop to conquer. Is that correct?

My mentor, Martin Luther King Jr., would say that there comes a time when the popular good becomes the reason for engagement.

And when that happens, you appeal to the consciences of people and perhaps see them live with egocentric tendencies and think about the popular good.

Now, you take it further, it was Mahatma Gandhi, who said that there comes a time in history, when even the devil listens to the voice of reason.

So, I think that is where we are as a people, look at our politics. Look at the cost of living. Look at how mendacity has become an instrument of state policy. Look at how governance has become too far from due process and the rule of law.

And you know that there is a need for a new tendency, a new republic, and a new shade in governance. And that’s why I think that if we continue to preach, if we continue to talk, if we continue to engage, some of them will stoop to conquer.

With everything that’s happening in the Labour Party, what does this situation say about its internal democracy and who is the legitimate chairman now?

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of a party consists of elected officers of the party. And as it were, the highest elected officer of the Labour Party is Governor Alex Otti, followed by members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. I would like Governor Otti on the call for Nenadi Usman to hold sway until the national convention.

Now, you did raise the issue about the high moral ground. I think that it’s still existing, because if you think about a party that has over 11 governors, and the issues of that party are not as stringent as not as tough in the news as those of the Labour Party.

You understand that Nigerians are expecting more from the Labour Party. So, I do sincerely believe that the effort at ensuring that Nenadi Usman midwife an all-inclusive executive for the party is ongoing.

And completely, I’m with that tendency. And so many other members, people from the National Assembly, people from across the nation, are with it. And then don’t forget also that a court of law had at some point decided that the Labour Party belongs, quote-and-unquote, to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade union Congress (TUC).

I am not saying that they must run the party, but they should have representatives in the NEC. I think that’s the way to go. We need a party that has conscience, a party that has cripples, and a party that has a strong ideological foundation if we must birth a new dawn and a new deal for our country.

When you say that what you’ll be looking for is an ideological basis for a coalition, what precisely does that mean to politicians?

Let me say this very clearly that your question is pungent and very strong. But there comes a time in the life of a nation and the history of a people, where things must be done differently. The need for a coalition is not predicated on some of these big names. We’re talking with several tendencies.

The reason is that if you continue to attempt to solve a problem the same way it was created, a wise man said it’s insanity. So, we’re not looking at that same normative.

We’re looking at things differently. There is a need for an ideological foundation predicated on governance serving the common good, predicated on the rule of law and predicated on service to the masses of our people. And that’s what democracy means.

Now, do we need an Atiku? Do we need an El-Rufai? Do we need those who are traditional politicians? At some point, yes, because we need their power base.

Now, what is most important is that you find it difficult to group me along with them because you know me. Now, those who have the tendencies, who are ready to give their all for the collective good, must lead the ideological trust of the new merger, if you like, or the coalition of parties.

And has the opposition lost its voice and value in Nigeria that opposing voices within the APC appear stronger, like Senator Ali Ndume?

We have never had it this bad. I thought some of us who were close to Tinubu when he was governor of Lagos State, thought and I believed that he was de-tribalized.

I thought and I believed that he was truly a progressive and a democrat. But very unfortunately, what we have is heart-rending, heartbreaking, and troubling.

We have never seen our security architecture under the control of perhaps one ethnicity. Some of my brothers who are from the South-West have said it is just about Tinubu’s men and the Lagos crowd.

Chapter 2 of the Constitution provides for federal character and all over the world, such tendencies exist.

In a diverse society, you try to give a sense of belonging to the disparate tendencies and the people who live in that country. We criticised and lampooned Muhammadu Buhari as extremely nepotistic and bigoted. But it wasn’t this bad.