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Nigeria’s political opposition is again in turmoil. With less than two years to the 2027 general elections, the Labour Party (LP) — once celebrated as the nation’s most promising alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) — is now battling for survival.

A leaked pre-resignation memo obtained exclusively by The Street Reporters Newspaper has exposed deep divisions, alleged infiltration, and crippling internal sabotage within the Senator Nenadi Usman-led faction of the party.

The memo, authored by Prince Tony Akeni, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the faction, reveals a shocking pattern of neglect, apathy, and what he describes as a “deliberate conspiracy” to silence the Labour Party’s media machinery and render it invisible in the public space.

Akeni, in the explosive document dated October 9, 2025, announced his decision to resign in protest, accusing key party figures of frustrating his efforts and starving the publicity department of funding in what he termed a “zero-budget policy” deliberately designed to cripple the opposition voice.

“Death Sentence by Silence” — Akeni’s Scathing Protest Memo

In the letter addressed to the National Executive Council (NEC) and Board of Trustees of the Labour Party, Akeni lamented that since he assumed office and relocated to Abuja from Edo State on August 7, 2025, he had been personally funding his accommodation and operations without a single naira in official support — except for a ₦10,000 data token reportedly provided by Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku.

“The zero-budget assertion and insistence of an unnamed iNWC member pertaining to the office of the National Publicity Secretary raises very disturbing questions,” Akeni wrote.
“Such person or persons are proxy agents of external rival parties planted to bring the Labour Party to its knees before decamping to the glittering nightclub lights of the ADC or APC.”

He warned that such internal policies amount to a “death sentence by silence” — effectively muting the party at a time when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s APC controls the media narrative and dominates political discourse nationwide.

445 Days of Paralysis: No Congresses, No Convention

Akeni’s memo provides a damning assessment of the Nenadi Usman faction’s inability to organize even basic party structures since its inauguration in Umuahia on September 4, 2024.

According to him, the interim National Working Committee (iNWC) was mandated to conduct state congresses and a national convention within 90 days. Yet, after more than 445 days, not a single congress has been held, and even the preliminary processes — membership registration and revalidation — remain at a standstill.

“The assignment given to the iNWC to conduct nationwide state congresses and an all-inclusive national convention has now spanned 445 days,” Akeni lamented. “Yet membership registration and revalidation are not even close to commencement.”

Party insiders told The Street Reporters Newspaper that many state chapters have been left demoralized, with several functionaries abandoning their posts or defecting to other parties out of frustration.

INEC Recognition Scandal and Abure’s Sudden Revival

The leaked document further reveals growing anger within the Nenadi faction over the recognition of Barr. Julius Abure — the leader of the rival LP faction — by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at a recent meeting of political party leaders in Abuja.

According to Akeni, rather than mobilize members nationwide to challenge the move, Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership limited its response to a mere protest letter.

“Why is Nenadi quiet as a mouse after Abure was recognized as LP national chairman?” Akeni asked in his memo. “Why a protest letter instead of mobilizing seething Labour Party members nationwide to demand recognition after both Supreme Court and Federal High Court judgments ending Abure’s tenure?”

The situation has deepened mistrust within the faction, with several members accusing the leadership of timidity and inaction, effectively ceding political ground to Abure’s group and, by extension, to the ruling APC.

Peter Obi’s Leadership Under Intense Scrutiny

Beyond internal wrangling, Akeni’s memo also delivers a sharp rebuke of Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate and perceived national leader of the Labour Party.

According to Akeni, Obi’s hands-off leadership style has left elected LP members in both the National Assembly and state legislatures “isolated, helpless, and disillusioned.”

“Members confess they are scarred and scared, isolated and dejected in their various legislatures,” the memo revealed. “Obi’s lack of control and capacity to build and hold the party together has led to disarray, membership depletion and losses across the country.”

He even suggested that Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, could soon join what he called the “decamping bandwagon,” given the growing frustration within the party’s ranks.

APC’s Political Machineries and the Opposition’s Disarray

Political analysts who spoke with The Street Reporters Newspaper say the crisis within the Labour Party underscores how effectively the APC has entrenched its dominance by exploiting opposition disunity and resource starvation.

Since the 2023 elections, President Tinubu’s administration has maintained a tight grip on the national political narrative, while opposition parties like the LP and the PDP have struggled to organize credible alternatives or sustain their grassroots momentum.

Akeni’s revelations, therefore, fuel suspicions that the APC may have infiltrated the opposition’s ranks, neutralizing its communication wings and ensuring that internal implosions keep rivals distracted until 2027.

“They want frustration from inactivity to kill the party nationwide,” Akeni warned. “By silencing the media voice of the Labour Party, they intend to ensure our total obliteration from public consciousness.”

INEC Recognition and the Exodus of Members

One of the most crippling blows to the Nenadi Usman faction remains its non-recognition by INEC.

Despite multiple court judgments in its favor, Akeni lamented that the faction’s leadership list has yet to be uploaded on the electoral commission’s website — a delay he described as “inexplicable and suspicious.”

Meanwhile, rival factions such as Abure’s LP and even the ADC coalition have secured full recognition and electoral validity through 2027.

The result, according to insiders, has been massive daily defections across several states, with Labour Party structures in disarray and members losing faith in both leadership and purpose.

A Party on the Edge of Collapse

As the Nenadi faction fights for recognition and relevance, the once-vibrant Labour Party is rapidly disintegrating into factional irrelevance.

Observers warn that if the crisis continues, the party that once electrified young Nigerians and symbolized hope for a new political order may not survive the next election cycle.

For many Nigerians who voted for Peter Obi in 2023, the Labour Party represented a chance to redefine the country’s political future. But today, that dream appears to be slipping away — undone by internal betrayal, poor leadership, and calculated political sabotage.

Akeni’s Final Words: A Warning and a Plea

Akeni’s memo closes with a somber appeal for introspection and urgent reform:

“Dear NEC and iNWC leaders, I urge you to have solemn reflections of the concerns expressed above and pray God to give you the wisdom and courage to act decisively before external forces ruin our party’s standing again in 2027 through internal forces akin to the 2023 election epoch.”

He signed off with the timeless activist slogan — “Aluta Continua, Victoria Ascerta.”

For a party now engulfed in silence and disarray, those words may be the only echo left of what once promised to be Nigeria’s strongest opposition voice.

© The Street Reporters Newspaper, October 2025 — All Rights Reserved.

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