The Labour Party (LP) is on the brink of a major internal shake-up as former presidential candidate Peter Obi and Abia State Governor Alex Otti lead a determined push to restructure the party following a controversial Supreme Court ruling that has deepened existing divisions.

The apex court recently ruled on the party’s leadership dispute, nullifying the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) on procedural grounds. Despite this, Abure convened a parallel National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Sunday, insisting on his continued leadership and threatening sanctions against Governor Otti over a planned stakeholders’ summit set for April 9 at the Transcorp Hilton.

Abure hailed the court ruling as a “triumph for internal party sovereignty,” asserting that leadership matters must be settled within the party, not through judicial processes.

In response, Obi and Otti are moving forward with their own broad-based NEC and Stakeholders’ Townhall Meeting, described by party insiders as a rescue effort to “revive” the LP. The meeting is expected to include the party’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, lawmakers, former NWC members, members of the NLC/TUC Political Commission, and candidates from the last general election.

“This is not just a power move; it is a party revival,” said a senior LP strategist familiar with the initiative.

At Abure’s factional NEC meeting at the Utako secretariat, loyalists reaffirmed his mandate, recognized the disputed March 27 Nnewi Convention (previously rejected by INEC), and removed Victor Ogene as House Caucus Leader, replacing him with Ben Etanabene. They also accused Obi and Otti of attempting to install an “illegal caretaker committee” and vowed to uphold party discipline.

Rumors of Obi’s potential defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were quashed by Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, who reaffirmed Obi’s commitment to the Labour Party. He added that party leaders would soon convene to address the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision.

SDP’s former presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, had earlier claimed that Obi and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar were in talks with his party—a claim now firmly denied by Obi’s camp.

Legal experts note that while the Supreme Court upheld the principle of internal party democracy, it left room for interpretive ambiguity, enabling both factions to assert legitimacy. With the 2027 general elections on the horizon, the outcome of the April 9 meeting could determine whether LP re-emerges unified—or descends further into crisis.