The Labour Party has acknowledged that the exit of its former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has created what it described as a significant vacuum within its ranks.
The party’s Public Secretary, Ken Asogwa, made the remark during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, where he reflected on Obi’s influence and the aftermath of his departure.
“We can’t close our eyes to the fact that we lost Peter Obi; he was a colossus within the party,” Asogwa said.
“The last time I came here, I remember saying that his departure left a void in the party.”
According to him, the party had anticipated the development before Obi eventually exited.
“We lost a colossus within the party, but the party envisaged it. Remember that before his departure, the rumour was already out there that he was leaving, and he eventually left on the 31st of December,” he added.
Obi, who flew the Labour Party flag in the 2023 presidential election, first left for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in December 2025 before later moving to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), citing internal disputes as part of his reason for switching platforms.
Despite the setback, Asogwa insisted that the party has begun rebuilding, saying it has returned to the “drawing board” to reorganise its structure and membership base.
“We discover that the greatest potential the Labour Party has is the institutional members it has in the name of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC),” he said.
“The former leadership annihilated them, but thankfully, we were able to bring them back to the fold, and we are together today,” he added.
On the question of leadership ahead of the 2027 general elections, Asogwa maintained that the party remains confident in its ability to produce another strong presidential candidate.
“So on the issue of the person who is going to drive the face of this project in 2027, I don’t want to preempt what is going to happen in our presidential primaries, but I can assure you that the Labour Party that produced the former presidential candidate has even better capacity today to produce someone of a commensurate stature,” he said.
Political observers, however, continued to argue that Obi’s exit could pose a major electoral challenge for the party, given his performance in 2023 when he secured over six million votes nationwide.
The Labour Party leadership, nevertheless, maintained that internal restructuring and renewed institutional support will reposition the party for future contests, including the 2027 elections.
