crisis in the Labour Party is getting messier, as both the camps of the National Chairman, Julius Abure, and the Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee, backed by Abia State Governor Alex Otti and 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have thrown decorum to the wind, abusing one another.

The Abure camp has declared that Usman is not a member of the LP, a claim the former Minister of Finance dismissed, stating that she is a registered member of the party.

Usman’s party membership was questioned after the Abure-led National Working Committee suspended her alongside Abia State Governor, Alex Otti; the Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe; the caretaker secretary, Senator Darlington Nwokocha; and lawmakers Victor Ogene, Amobi Ogah, and Seyi Sowumi for alleged anti-party activities.

Earlier, the committee set up by the caretaker committee to investigate corruption allegations against Abure found the chairman and his National Secretary, Umar Farouk, guilty and subsequently suspended them for six months.

As the rat race continued amid a tussle for control of LP administration, the Abure camp told Sunday PUNCH that it would be ‘silly’ and a complete violation of the party constitution to hand over the affairs of LP to an outsider who is not even a ‘card-carrying member.’

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, described Usman as an impostor who is conniving with their detractors to trade the party.

He said, “Anybody can claim anything. That woman (Usman) came in as an Obidient member working for Peter Obi. She actually headed PO’s campaign in Kaduna.

“Of course, you know PO did not use Labour Party members. He used his Obidient movement to form his presidential campaign team. That was where we started having problems with him because he didn’t think we should be part of it. So, this woman came and joined Obi. But she felt too big to go and register in her ward. I can confirm this because her ward register is still with us.

“In the compendium of every member of the party with INEC, her name is not there. Even in the electronic copy, her name is not there. We also did a revalidation exercise, but she didn’t participate in it. That you called a meeting to share money during the campaign and share incentives does not connote that you have registered and got a membership card.”

However, Usman denied the allegations, insisting she was fully registered in her ward and was even issued a membership card.

She said, “I am a member of the Labour Party from Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State. My ward is Jere South, and the name of my chairman is Shehu. Incidentally, most of the membership cards being distributed to people there—I paid for them to be printed. I paid Clement Ojukwu to print them for me, and I took them after they were completed.

“At that time, nobody told me, ‘We don’t want you in LP’ or ‘Don’t print cards.’ After I joined the Labour Party, I called other people to come and join too. If people from my ward don’t disown me, I don’t think anyone here in Abuja can disown me.”

But Ifoh noted that since the caretaker committee chairperson was insisting that she is a recognised and bona fide member, she ought to have shown Nigerians the proof of her membership by now.

The spokesman stressed that since she claimed to have joined the party in 2022, when Obi’s presidential campaign started, any card she plans to flaunt must definitely carry Abure’s signature.

He also demanded that, in line with the party constitution, she should show evidence that she pays her dues.

“We don’t even need to drag this issue for too long. If she has a membership card duly signed by Julius Abure in 2022 when she came in, let her bring it and show the whole world. That is the evidence of registration, isn’t it? At least, they accepted Abure as their chairman then.

“If you register, your name will definitely be in the register and a membership card will be handed to you immediately. We are talking about this one that they are printing all over the place now. Secondly, let her talk about her dues.

“The Labour Party says that if you are a member of the party and you have not paid your dues for six months, your membership has elapsed. Ask her and see if she paid one naira, assuming that she even registered. I will be surprised, because people like her don’t even read the party constitution.

“Otherwise, she would have known that if you are a member of this party and you have not paid your dues after six months, you are automatically no longer a member. I don’t know what else to talk about, since she is not even a member,” he stated.