"Obi and His Supporters Destroyed Labour Party" — Abure Warns Dickson Over NDC Alliance

Julius Abure, the factional chairman of the Labour Party, has warned former Bayelsa State governor and leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Seriake Dickson, to be cautious in his political alliance with Peter Obi and his supporters.

Abure, whose leadership is not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleged that Obi's supporters have a pattern of seeking control of political parties that provide them a platform.

In a statement issued on Monday, Abure said Dickson's reported decision not to concede all elective positions within the NDC to Obi's supporters was a prudent move.

"They say history usually repeats itself. Senator Dickson and Co have seen their trajectory and learnt from what happened to us," Abure said.

According to him, several politicians who secured elective offices on the Labour Party platform after the 2023 elections later turned against the party leadership instead of helping to strengthen the organisation.

"A lot of them, after they won and got into government, turned around and were struggling with the leadership of the party," he said.

Abure described Obi and many of his supporters as "ingrates" and argued that it would be risky for any political party to hand over its structures entirely to them.

"I want to say that Obi and his followers are ingrates who will never remember the sacrifices you made for them," he said.

"It is dangerous for the leadership of the NDC to wholly hand over the elective positions to Obi and his followers."

The Labour Party factional leader claimed that the party gave significant concessions to Obi and his allies ahead of the 2023 elections, including what he described as free tickets for many candidates.

"We ensured that Obi's interests were adequately taken care of. We only looked at his body language and obliged most of his supporters with tickets," he said.

"Most of the tickets were for free because we believed we were investing in those persons and expected that when they won, they would support the growth of the party."

Abure alleged that after assuming office, many elected officials aligned with Obi moved against the party leadership and sought control of its structures.

"They went for the structures of the party, from the ward to the national level, to be dissolved," he claimed.

He further accused Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti of attempting to take over the party's leadership following disagreements over the tenure of the party's executives.

"The leaders, particularly Peter Obi and Alex Otti, decided to take over the leadership of the party," Abure said.

He also argued that the NDC leadership may be drawing lessons from Labour Party's experience in managing internal power struggles.

"People like Seriake Dickson and the leaders of the NDC are probably learning from what happened to the Labour Party," he added.

The comments come amid ongoing political realignments ahead of future electoral contests and continuing disputes over the leadership and direction of the Labour Party.