Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has acknowledged that some members and aspirants have used—and continue to use—the party as a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) for personal political gain.
Obi, who defected to the LP from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2023 general elections, cautioned opportunistic politicians against treating the party as a mere political springboard.
He insisted that going forward, only credible and genuinely committed members would be allowed to contest on the LP platform.
He made the remarks on Wednesday during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and expanded stakeholders’ summit held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
The meeting was presided over by Nenadi Usman, former Minister of Finance and chairperson of the Labour Party’s caretaker committee.
Addressing concerns over the integrity of the party’s candidates and internal processes, Obi admitted that some individuals used the LP as an SPV but assured stakeholders that such practices would no longer be tolerated.
“Anyone seeking to contest under our party must be a committed member, not just someone passing through. They must be competent,” he said.
“Let’s do the right thing, let’s go from ward to local government to state, to zone and nationally, everybody is free to contest.”
He emphasized the party’s plan to rebuild from the grassroots to the national level, promising a transparent and merit-based process for candidate selection across all tiers — from House of Assembly to the presidency.
“We will ensure fairness, and we want to build a party that will be fair, just, and a party people can look at and say, ‘this is how this party is.’
“We want to go into the next election knowing fully well that we are offering Nigeria’s the best of people for house of assembly, house of reps, senate, governors, and every form of election,” he said.
Obi further reiterated the importance of aligning the party’s elected officials with its ideological vision.
Obi said, “We want to correct the mistake we made in the past; we are going to be sure that whoever wants to contest must be a Labour Party member and not on transit.
“It’s going to be a party of ideology and not a party where you just elect people, and they become whatever goes on.
“We must have senators who agree with us, even if we fail, we fail but it’s better to fail doing right than be on the side of wrong. We are going to do that for Nigeria.”
Addressing speculation about his continued loyalty to the Labour Party, Obi firmly denied having any intentions to leave.
“I have never told anyone I’m leaving the party,” he stated.
The late former Director-General of the Obi-Datti Campaign, Doyin Okupe, admitted after leaving the Labour Party that he and Peter Obi had merely used the party as a “special purpose vehicle” to contest the 2023 general election.
“You will recall that our flagbearer, Mr Peter Obi, myself and others left the PDP abruptly and had to look for a special purpose vehicle in which to contest the 2023 Presidential Elections,” Okupe had said.
“We did contest the election on the platform of the Labour Party and lost. This makes it exceedingly difficult for me to continue to stay in the Labour Party, which is ideologically rooted in the left of the centre.
“I have been a rightist and a liberal democrat all my entire life. It is, therefore, this ideological conflict that makes me seek an exit so that I may continue my political activities with liberalism, sincerity and freedom,” he added.
