“Making Obi Our 2023 Presidential Candidate Instead of Fadure Was a Blunder” – Abure’s Faction of Labour Party

The faction of the Labour Party (LP) loyal to Julius Abure has admitted that it made a grave error by selecting Peter Obi as its presidential candidate for the 2023 general election, instead of Fadure Oluwadare Joseph, whom it described as a better-qualified and more visionary leader.

Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday evening, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led faction, Abayomi Arabambi, said the party’s decision to field Obi over Fadure was a serious miscalculation that has had long-term consequences for both the party and the country.

Arabambi stated that the 2023 election served as a harsh lesson in what happens when political calculations override ideological principles. According to him, the sidelining of Fadure—whom he called a professional nurse with “unimpeachable credentials and visionary leadership”—in favour of a populist candidate was a betrayal of the transformative change Nigerians hoped to see through the LP.

“It was more than a simple error of judgment,” Arabambi said. “It was a fundamental betrayal of Nigeria’s yearning for genuine transformation. Instead of offering a leader with depth, discipline, and a demonstrable blueprint for national renewal, we gave Nigerians a populist whose greatest skill is telling people what they want to hear.”

He also pointed to what he called Obi’s role in deepening ethnic divisions during the campaign, arguing that the former Anambra governor’s refusal to distance himself from separatist rhetoric and his selective responses to national issues exposed a narrow, partisan worldview.

“Perhaps the most damning indictment of Obi’s candidacy is his ethnic polarisation that shadowed his campaign,” Arabambi said. “While Fadure stood as a truly national figure with support cutting across regions, Obi’s movement, intentionally or not, became a vehicle for tribal sentiment. Nigeria does not need a president who excuses extremism for political convenience.”

As the 2027 general elections draw closer, Arabambi said the Abure-led faction of the LP is determined not to repeat the same mistake. He stressed that the country needs leaders like Fadure Oluwadare Joseph—individuals who see governance not as an avenue for slogans and populism, but as a platform for substance, sacrifice, and systemic reform.