The interim national chairman of the Labour Party, Nenadi Usman, has said Peter Obi may not be able to run under the party’s platform in 2027 at least not legally if he doesn’t meet the membership timeline.
Speaking on Arise TV, Usman explained that the party’s register will be closed 21 days before its primaries and submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Once that happens, no new member can be added.
Her point was simple: if Obi isn’t officially registered before that deadline, he can’t just show up later and contest.
“You can’t come in through the back door after we’ve closed the register,” she said, stressing that it would be “legally impossible.”
Usman acknowledged Obi’s role in boosting the party ahead of the 2023 election, noting that he personally convinced her and many others to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join Labour.
According to her, that move was driven by a sense of fairness.
She said many felt the PDP should have zoned its presidential ticket to the South but didn’t, instead leaving it open in a way that could favour a northern candidate.
Even as a northerner, she said, that decision didn’t sit right with her and it was one of the reasons she switched sides.
