By David Lawani, Abuja
The leadership crisis within the Labour Party deepened on Saturday after rival factions of the opposition party separately unveiled different presidential candidates for the 2027 general election.
The development has further exposed widening divisions within the party as competing camps intensify efforts to assert control ahead of the next presidential race.
The faction loyal to the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure, adopted its National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, as consensus presidential candidate during a primary election held in Abuja.
Almost simultaneously, the rival camp led by former Finance Minister Nenadi Usman announced governance expert and policy strategist Dr Chibuzo Okereke as its consensus presidential flagbearer through a parallel process.
Ahanotu, 42, described his emergence as a national call to duty and appealed to aggrieved party members to embrace reconciliation and unity.
“With a full sense of responsibility and unwavering commitment to our nation, I proudly accept the nomination of our great party,” he said.
He also urged party members to work together ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Abure-led faction claimed that Ahanotu secured 2,944,420 votes through its consensus primary arrangement and pledged to strengthen party structures nationwide before the next election cycle.
Meanwhile, the Usman-led faction projected Okereke as a reform-driven technocrat capable of addressing Nigeria’s governance and institutional challenges.
National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Ken Asogwa, described Okereke as “one of Nigeria’s leading voices on public policy, legislative governance and institutional development.”
Okereke currently serves as President of the ERGAF-AFRICA Legislative Governance Innovation and Policy Hub and also lectures at Miva Open University, Abuja.
According to the faction, his experience in governance, public accountability and democratic reforms positions him as a credible alternative for the 2027 presidential contest.
The emergence of parallel presidential candidates has underscored the intensifying struggle for legitimacy and leadership within the Labour Party, with both factions laying claim to the party’s structure ahead of the next general election.
Political observers say the deepening internal crisis could pose a major challenge to the opposition party’s ability to present a united front in 2027.
