Senate President Godswill Akpabio sharply criticized Peter Obi, the Labour Party‘s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, for claiming that the sacrifices of Nigeria’s past heroes were “in vain,” urging him to first resolve the ongoing leadership crisis within his party before commenting on national issues. Akpabio’s remarks, made during a Senate valedictory session honoring the late elder statesman Edwin Clark in Abuja, responded to Obi’s speech at Clark’s memorial lecture the previous day, where he lamented the nation’s decline, stating, “They have sacrificed for nothing,” and questioned the absence of protests despite economic hardships, per Daily Post and Punch. Akpabio countered, “Let our brother, Peter Obi show leadership like Edwin Clark did by resolving first the crisis in the Labour Party. For a man who wants to run Nigeria, you have one of the smallest parties in Nigeria, and you can’t even resolve the crisis, is it the crisis of Boko Haram that you will come and resolve in Nigeria?”
The LP’s internal strife, centered on a leadership dispute between the Julius Abure-led faction and the Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee, has escalated since a Supreme Court ruling on April 4, 2025, nullified Abure’s chairmanship, prompting his suspension of figures like Abia Governor Alex Otti and Obi’s allies for alleged anti-party activities, per Businessday NG. Akpabio, leveraging this, accused Obi of failing to demonstrate leadership, boasting of his own achievements as Akwa Ibom governor, including infrastructure and sponsoring religious pilgrimages, while dismissing Obi’s social media-driven critiques as divisive. “Tell them to resolve the small crisis in the smallest party in Nigeria before they come to talk about the larger Nigeria,” he said, noting the unregulated nature of social media, per TheNewsGuru and Naija News.
Obi’s remarks, tying Nigeria’s challenges to leadership failures, drew support from X users like @EasYQuality, who praised his candor, but Akpabio’s rebuttal resonated with APC loyalists, with posts like @Mario9jaa and @abdullahayofel amplifying his taunt: “You cannot even resolve the crisis in that Labour Party, is it the crisis of Boko Haram that you will come and resolve in Nigeria?” The Usman committee, on May 7, apologized to Obi and Otti for Abure’s “uncouth” attacks, forming an investigative panel led by Senator Ireti Kingibe to probe Abure’s alleged financial misappropriation, per Businessday NG.
Akpabio’s challenge, framed as echoing Clark’s call for unity, reflects political tensions ahead of 2027, with Obi’s LP facing defections, including Valentine Ozigbo’s switch to APC, per Daily Trust. Critics, like @SaharaReporters, argue Akpabio’s focus on Obi diverts from his own controversies, including sexual harassment allegations by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, which he denies and is litigating, per Vanguard. Nigeria’s broader context—24.23% inflation and political defections to APC—amplifies the debate, with Akpabio’s remarks signaling a strategy to undermine Obi’s credibility, though Obi’s 6.1 million 2023 votes suggest enduring grassroots support, per Punch.
Leave a comment