Lagos, March 30, 2025– A deepening rift within Nigeria’s Labour Party (LP) has taken center stage as the Obidient Movement, the influential grassroots coalition that propelled Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential bid, has emphatically rejected the party’s latest overtures for unity, opting instead to assert its independence. The development, marked by sharp exchanges and competing visions, underscores a growing divide between LP’s leadership and the movement that once revitalized its fortunes.
The tension traces back to longstanding grievances, but it flared anew this week when Yunusa Tanko, a prominent spokesman for Peter Obi’s 2023 campaign, rebuffed an “olive branch” from LP National Chairman Julius Abure. Abure had urged Obidient members to register formally with the party as part of a broader effort to reposition LP ahead of future elections. Speaking to *The Sun* on March 30, Tanko dismissed the gesture, arguing it threatened the movement’s broader mission. “The Obidient Movement is not a directorate of any particular political party,” he said, echoing a tweet from Obi earlier this year that emphasized the group’s transcendence of traditional affiliations. “Some of us are in APC, some are technocrats with no party. Our focus is good governance and Peter Obi’s leadership.”
The roots of this schism stretch back to June 2024, when LP established an “Obidient Directorate” to harness the movement’s energy under its banner. The move backfired spectacularly. Leaders representing 261 Obidient support groups issued a scathing statement titled “We Vehemently Reject Julius Abure’s Attempt to Usurp the Obidient Movement,” accusing the party of overreach and questioning Abure’s integrity. The appointment of Marcel Ngogbehei, a figure criticized by Obidient leaders as corrupt, to head the directorate only fueled the fire. Facing backlash, LP rebranded it as the Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration (DMI), but the damage was done.
Peter Obi, the movement’s figurehead and LP’s 2023 presidential candidate, has himself signaled a shift. In a January 2025 tweet, he clarified that Obidients were free to align with any party, a move some saw as a subtle distancing from LP’s embattled leadership. Analysts suggest Obi’s stance reflects both strategic pragmatism—preserving his political capital amid LP’s internal chaos—and pressure from supporters wary of Abure’s rumored ties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
For LP, the stakes are high. The party, once a marginal player, rode the Obidient wave to unprecedented relevance in 2023. But post-election disputes, including leadership tussles and accusations of betrayal, have eroded that unity. Abure’s call for registration was framed as a peace gesture, an attempt to fold the movement back into the fold. Yet Tanko’s response was unequivocal: “We reject it. Our focus is on Obi’s future, not party control.”
The fallout has left both sides entrenched. LP insiders argue the Obidients risk diluting their influence by eschewing a unified platform, while movement leaders insist their strength lies in their autonomy. “We are bigger than the Labour Party,” Tanko told Channels TV in June 2024, a sentiment he reiterated this week. For now, the Obidient Movement appears set on charting its own course, leaving LP to grapple with a fractured “Labour Camp” and an uncertain path forward.
As Nigeria’s political landscape evolves, the standoff raises questions about the Obidients’ next move—and whether their independence will bolster or weaken their clout. For Obi’s loyalists, it’s a gamble on principle over pragmatism, with the 2027 elections looming on the horizon.
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