Abia State Governor Alex Otti has drawn a clear line between his political future and that of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, declaring his unwavering commitment to rebuilding the party even as the former Anambra State governor prepares to depart. The decision represents a significant moment in Nigerian opposition politics, underscoring the challenges facing the third-force Labour Party as internal pressures mount and key figures reassess their political futures.
Speaking during his monthly media briefing in Umuahia on Tuesday, 31 December 2025, Otti categorically denied speculation that he would defect alongside Obi to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a coalition platform that has emerged as the focal point of anti-administration political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The governor revealed that Obi had directly informed him of his intention to abandon the Labour Party, a disclosure Otti received without rancour but with a clear indication that his own political trajectory would follow a markedly different course.
“If you remember, I joined the Labour Party before Peter Obi, so I did not join the party with him,” Otti stated, establishing the historical context of his membership. “He has communicated to me that he is leaving the Labour Party. I gave him my blessings. But I will remain in the Labour Party, and I told him that I would continue the struggle to rescue the Labour Party.”
The governor’s comments represent a diplomatic but resolute rejection of the path Obi is pursuing, emphasising that his political identity and institutional loyalty remain rooted in the party that brought him to the Abia governorship in 2023. Otti is the only governor currently holding office under the Labour Party’s platform across Nigeria, a distinction that underscores the party’s precarious electoral position in a political landscape increasingly dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“That is the party that brought me to power,” Otti said, invoking both gratitude and obligation as his rationale for staying. “If we fight and get to the end, and we are able to reposition the Labour Party, then we can discuss other options. Therefore, for now, I am not defecting to any party.”
Otti’s declaration came amid intensifying pressure from multiple quarters seeking to influence his political alignment. Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu publicly extended an invitation to the governor to join the APC during a town hall meeting in his Bende Local Government Area country home on Monday, 29 December.
Kalu assured Otti that the APC would extend full support should the governor decide to cross the floor to the ruling party. “Let me tell you, I want to use this opportunity again, publicly, to invite Governor Alex Otti to join our party. If he comes to our party, we will support him,” Kalu declared before an assembly of APC faithfuls, traditional rulers, and community leaders.
The Deputy Speaker’s overture was emphatic, suggesting that political alignment with the federal administration was becoming less a matter of preference and more a calculation of political viability. Kalu warned that without joining the APC, Otti may not stand a chance of winning the 2027 governorship election should he contest, insisting that no politician would be allowed to pretend to support President Bola Tinubu from another political party.
Rather than engaging directly with Kalu’s challenge, Otti adopted a measured tone, deflecting the Deputy Speaker’s overtures whilst acknowledging his recent charitable works. The governor praised Kalu’s distribution of food items and financial support to vulnerable residents across Abia State, describing the gesture as aligned with his own Christmas appeal for assistance to the less privileged and persons living with disabilities.
However, when pressed on whether he would respond to the APC invitation, Otti invoked the wisdom of historical precedent, quoting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The governor said he was not interested in political distractions and preferred to stay focused on governance, noting that Churchill, who lived from 1874 to 1965, had said he would never reach his destination if he stopped to throw stones at every dog that barked.
The implicit message was unambiguous: Otti would not be diverted from his governance agenda by political provocations or appeals to defect, regardless of their source or the promises attached to them.
Otti’s stance takes on deeper significance against the backdrop of rapid shifts within Nigeria’s opposition political landscape. Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, is set to formally defect to the African Democratic Congress on 31 December 2025, with the event planned for Enugu State, the political capital of the South-East.
The timing of Obi’s move appears calculated to maximise symbolic impact. According to the Leader of the Obidients Movement, Dr Yunusa Tanko, Obi chose Enugu for his defection because the South-East wants to make a statement that will shape the 2027 elections. The Obidient Movement—the grassroots mobilisation force that propelled Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign—has reportedly begun organising to support the transition, with members converging in Enugu to demonstrate solidarity.
Yet Obi’s characterisation of his move remains semantically contested. In a series of X Space discussions, the former Anambra governor insisted that he was not “defecting” to the ADC but rather formally acknowledging an alignment that he claims has existed since the coalition’s inception. “I am not joining ADC. I can’t re-join what I am already a part of. I have been part of the coalition from day one,” he stated, suggesting that the formal declaration represents a clarification of existing commitments rather than a fundamental shift in political affiliation.
Read Also: Peter Obi Makes Dramatic Exit from Labour Party, Joins ADC
The exodus of key figures has exposed deep fissures within the Labour Party, an organisation that achieved surprising third-force status in the 2023 general election before encountering persistent internal discord. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, sought to downplay speculation about Obi’s departure, declining to make definitive pronouncements until the former presidential candidate issued his own formal statement.
“We cannot fully comment on that until we hear from Obi,” Ifoh said. “As we normally say, anybody can defect from anywhere to anywhere. It is normal in Nigerian politics.”
The measured response from party leadership reflects the political reality that Obi’s departure would represent a significant symbolic blow, even if his formal removal from Labour Party structures remains technically incomplete. Sources within the party, speaking in confidence, acknowledged that Obi’s potential exit stemmed from pressure by key supporters and advisers, with organisational confusion over whether to fully embrace the ADC as the party’s electoral platform contributing substantially to the current predicament.
The fragmentation of opposition forces could prove consequential for the 2027 presidential contest. Within the ADC coalition, Obi faces competition from other heavyweight political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former APC chieftains such as Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi. This concentration of competing ambitions within a single coalition raises questions about the coalition’s stability and its capacity to mount a unified challenge to the Tinubu administration.
Otti’s decision to remain in the Labour Party, by contrast, signals a commitment to the premise that internal party rebuilding offers a more viable political strategy than migration to larger but more fractious coalition platforms. His position is not without risks, particularly given mounting pressure from federal actors like Kalu, who have suggested that political opposition to Tinubu outside the APC carries inherent disadvantages heading into the 2027 election.
Otti’s public articulation of loyalty to the Labour Party carries resonances of gratitude and reciprocal obligation. The party secured his election as governor in 2023 when internal contradictions had already begun eroding its national electoral machinery. That he remains the only Labour Party governor in Nigeria amplifies the symbolic weight of his continued membership—a statement of party fidelity at a moment when defections and realignments dominate political discourse.
Yet Otti’s formulation also includes an implicit conditionality. His commitment to the Labour Party extends only so far as efforts to reposition and rebuild the organisation prove viable. Should such attempts ultimately prove futile, the governor has left open the possibility of future political movement. This calibration suggests a leader navigating between principle and pragmatism, unwilling to abandon his original political vehicle but cognisant of potential future scenarios
