Abia State Governor Alex Oti has sought to quell speculation that he may follow other opposition governors into Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress, saying he will remain a member of the Labor Party, while acknowledging that political loyalties are rarely permanent.
Speaking during a monthly media briefing on Thursday, Oti said he is still committed to the Labor Party that will lead him to victory in the 2023 elections, despite a growing leadership crisis within the party and a wave of defections that has weakened the opposition ahead of the next election cycle.
“I'm still in the Labor Party,” the former banker said. “If elections were held today, we would still have contested on that platform. But no one knows what will happen tomorrow.”
His comments come at a delicate moment for the Labor Party, which has been embroiled in a long-running internal dispute over its national leadership. The crisis has divided the party into rival factions and raised questions about its organizational coherence after its surprise gains in the 2023 general elections.
At the center of the controversy is former national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, whose tenure Otti and his allies argue has ended. The Abia governor said his faction has taken the matter to court to resolve it, calling it a constitutional violation.
“We have said that Abure’s tenure has ended,” Otti said. “The court has now confirmed that position and advises all parties to respect judicial decisions.”
Last week, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the National Caretaker Committee led by Nnadi Usman is the legitimate leadership of the Labor Party. The court also directed Nigeria's electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to recognize the caretaker committee, a decision seen as a significant boost for the faction aligned with Oti.
The group led by rival Abure has rejected the decision and said it will appeal, leaving uncertainty over the party's leadership structure.
Oti's carefully worded comments reflect the broader fluidity of Nigerian politics, where party allegiance is often determined by calculations of electoral feasibility rather than ideology. Since President Bola Tinubu took office, many governors elected on opposition platforms have joined the APC, strengthening the ruling party's dominance in most parts of the country.
For now, Oti appears eager to bring stability to Abia while avoiding definitive commitments about the future. “We are not in an election season,” he said, indicating that immediate governance rather than partisan maneuvering remains his priority.
Yet his admission that “no one knows tomorrow” underlined the fragility of Nigeria’s opposition landscape – and the unresolved question of whether the Labor Party can remain united long enough to remain a credible national force.
