- ‘We need to do whatever it takes to keep Nigeria together’
Nenadi Usman is the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP). In this interview monitored on Arise Television, she speaks on ongoing efforts to reconcile factions within the party and preparations for the 2027 general election, among other issues. Evince Uhurebor reports
Once upon a time, the Labour Party held sway as the third force and promised a new wave of leadership, and it enjoyed the influence of the Obidient Movement, but internal crises had led it to where it is today. Where does the Labour Party stand ahead of the 2027 general election because we understand that you also had to postpone your planned national convention?
First, I believe our strength is in coming back together, making peace among ourselves and let everyone know we are still a family. So those who are aggrieved, we’re extending the olive branch to them to please come back. Let’s work together. Let’s build our party.
Secondly, we had to postpone our congresses. We should have started this March, but we just had to postpone it for like about 20 days. So we are starting on April 23 by the grace of Almighty God. And our national convention is expected to be on April28 in Umuahia, Abia State by the grace of God because we have only one governor. He’s doing well. So, we want to have it in his city where we will celebrate with him as well.
You spoke about making peace. How do you plan to reconcile with the Julius Abure-led faction?
We are still inviting them to come for us to sit down on the table and discuss because even when nations go to war, which most of the time is even uncalled for, at the end, after a lot of collateral damage, they still come back to the table to discuss. So we are inviting them, saying please come, let’s sit down, let’s talk. It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about the party.
About three weeks ago, you announced the zoning of the party’s presidential candidacy to the South. What informed that decision? Is this just about the prevailing political sentiment in the country?
Well, I think it’s more of having peace in the nation. It’s only when you have a nation at peace that you can decide who becomes a president.
If the nation is not at peace, people are not happy, then you wouldn’t even want to talk about who should be a president. And for me and my team, when we talk among ourselves, we don’t want to pitch the country into North versus South. When it’s the turn of southerners to produce a president, let’s give them their turn. Yes, we northerners are more in number, if you really look at it. We have more states.
Out of the 36 states, 19 are northern states. If you look at the population, Kano, Kaduna, we are more in number. But I think for us to live together as Nigerians, since quite a number of people fought and lost their lives just to keep Nigeria together, whatever it takes to keep Nigeria together, I think we need to do that. So, one of the things we need to do is to ensure that all Nigerians believe they have that equal opportunity to lead the country at some point.
Remember, the Labour Party, one of the key foundational stones of the party is equal opportunity and the other is social justice. So, for us, if we want to walk the talk, we are not just talking, but we want to act as we do, then we must ensure that social justice and equal opportunity is what we should watch out for.
With Peter Obi gone, who is the Labour Party’s national face?
Governor Oti is the leader of the party at the moment. And of course, we still have members in the National Assembly, but there is always only one leader at any particular time. His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi was the leader, he has left. We have a new leader, Governor Alex Oti.
Your party has been embroiled in a lot of legal battles that many feel that has made your party lose so much ground ahead of a much contentious and crucial election like the 2027 election, and also with the defection of Obi. Where does this put your party in terms of people feeling that your party might not just be able to present a formidable candidate for the 2027 election?
Who are your front runners? Well, for now, just like I said, first, we want to make peace within the party, and I believe we’re going to achieve that in the next couple of weeks. That’s number one. Number two, we don’t have any preferred candidates that we have dusted and kept. We are leaving it open. Everybody is invited to come if you want to run. And you are from the South, you are invited.
The primaries, if you look at the new guidelines, it’s no longer an issue of delegates coming in a room and choosing one man. It’s now going to be a direct primary. So, anybody who members of the people like, they feel this is the person they want to vote for, in that direct primaries or consensus, he gets the ticket and then we work with him.
I believe that is where we’re heading and that is where we will be. So, I cannot give you specifically a name or a couple of names now. No, that would be very undemocratic. For a party to sustain itself and not die, if I could use that word, internal democracy has to be very key in whatever we do. And we intend to make sure that internal democracy is sustained in the Labour Party.
Are you currently negotiating any coalitions ahead of 2027?
No, we are not negotiating any coalition with anyone because if you remember, the other time when major gladiators came together, the coalition was among people, not political parties. That’s why there wasn’t any merger. It was just people coming together to say, we want a coalition. And they came together, they’ve been working together. Then they decided to now join one political party, which is the African Democratic Congress (ADC). So, we are not in talks at the moment with any political party for any merger.
The Labour Party from outsiders look a bit weak in the height of the 2027 presidential election because we are yet to identify with any front runner for the 2027 elections. So, one would just want to imagine that with your zoning announcement to the South, someone like Yusuf Dati Ahmed had been ruled out of that race. Who is next to fill in that position because you made that announcement shortly after he also announced his willingness to offer himself for that race?
Honestly, I don’t want to mention names, but I know there are quite a number of people who have been contacting the party and saying they would like to use the party’s platform to run. But as I told you, it’s not good for any political party to make up its mind and microzone any position to any one person amongst many. Let’s allow them. Time will tell. But I want to mention something. The party is not weak.
All we need is just to put our acts together. Our party is a very unique party. It’s the only party that has workers’ unions, trade unions, and their affiliates. It’s the only party that has that kind of structure. It’s the only party that has institutional members. So, by the time you put all this institutional membership together, it’s actually a very large party. And in the next couple of months, you will get to know what I’m talking about.
You said that the party is not weak, are you saying that the Labour Party now is stronger than how it was in 2023?
I would say maybe at par. Why I said it is not weak; in 2023, the party seemed to be strong from outside but within, they didn’t strengthen it, which is why at the end of the day, we didn’t have polling unit agents in every polling unit. And at the end of the day, when we wanted to show the country that we won the election, we couldn’t prove it because we didn’t have agents in all the polling units. In fact, in 60 per cent of polling units, Labour Party didn’t have agents. So, to bring out that form EC8A and show the courts that we won, we didn’t have it and we could not prove it.
So, you see, the party looked strong at that time, but internally, it was weak. Now, externally, the party may look weak, but internally, it is getting stronger. If at that time in 2023, the right thing was done, the right people who make the party strong, were brought in and said, this is your party, each of you nominate somebody to go and stand at the polling unit but nobody invited them. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was not invited, the Trade Union Comgress (TUC) was not invited. They were not made to feel that they were part and parcel of the party. But all that has changed now.
They know the party is ours together, and they are willing to work hard to make sure that we build the party and give it strength. So, don’t worry about what you see on the outside. The inside is what we are working on, so that next time, we will make sure that we have agents in every polling unit. I remember sometime, some political parties were saying, let’s come together and disagree that we don’t want the new Electoral Act because it didn’t hammer on electronic transmission of results from the polling unit.
But that was not our problem at that time, so I couldn’t join them. Our problem is, if you don’t have an agent that will watch that from EC8 being filled and he would sign on your behalf, anything that is pushed onto the IREF, whether electronically or not, is not to your advantage. So, we had different issues that were bothering us, so I just felt to use this opportunity to even clarify that for us, it could be an issue of garbage in, garbage out.
You don’t know what was signed, you don’t know how many voters, because that form is a very rich form, it contains a lot of information, the number of people accredited, those that voted, if there were any votes that were voided and the number of votes that each political party scored at that polling unit. So, these are key information. If you don’t have anybody to stand for you, and make sure that all these are correct and the person signs as your agent at the end of the day, then anything that is sent to the IREF, is not to your advantage.
What mode of primary election will your party adopt; direct or consensus?
We are considering both options. Some want the direct primary, but you know that it is quite expensive. It has its advantages and disadvantages. For me as a woman, I would like direct or consensus, because I believe more women will be able to have access to contest elections, to get tickets for their political parties. When you make an indirect process for primaries, delegates come together and the highest bidder gets the ticket.
And most of us women, we don’t have that kind of money. For direct primary, everybody in the community comes together, you stand, they’ll come out and queue behind you. So, I believe that direct primaries are going to be more advantageous to women. And I am hoping that women who have been serving their communities will seize the opportunity to come out and contest and get tickets for whatever positions they want.
