Labour Party closes door on Peter Obi’s return

LAGOS, NIGERIA — The Interim National Chairperson of the Labour Party, Nenadi Usman, has declared that former presidential candidate Peter Obi may have permanently missed his window to return to the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Usman made the remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme, citing electoral law provisions as the key barrier to any potential comeback.

According to the party chair, the Electoral Act mandates that party registers must be closed 21 days before primaries, after which the e-register is formally submitted to electoral authorities. Once that process is concluded, she said, no new registrations can be accommodated.

“It will be too late for Peter Obi to come back to Labour Party because if you look at the Electoral Act, at some points, we will close the register. You cannot come when that is done,” Usman stated.

Despite the firm stance on Obi’s registration prospects, Usman spoke warmly of his contribution to the party’s rise, acknowledging that he played a pivotal role in building Labour Party’s national profile during the 2023 election cycle.

“Obi actually took the party to greater heights in 2023. There’s nobody who can match that momentum like he did,” she said.

Usman also revealed that Obi personally persuaded her to join the Labour Party, alongside many others who were drawn in by a shared belief in equity and fair play — values she said remain central to the party’s identity.

Peter Obi, who ran as the Labour Party’s presidential flagbearer in 2023 and galvanised a significant youth-driven movement known as the “Obidient” wave, has not publicly confirmed any intention to return to the party following his departure.

For Nigerian political watchers, the statement from the party’s interim leadership signals a hardening of positions within Labour Party as 2027 campaign calculations begin to take shape across the country’s political landscape.

As NaijaChoice News continues to monitor developments within the opposition space, Usman’s comments suggest that the clock may have already run out on a Labour Party-Obi reunion — regardless of sentiment on either side.