LP Chair Alleges Break-In at Party Secretariat

By Chinedu Echianu

The National Chairman of Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, has alleged that hoodlums led by former Chairman of the party, Julius Abure and other previous officials, broke into the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, vandalised offices and removed documents following a leadership transition announced by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Court, presided over by Peter Lifu, had sacked Abure as the party’s national chairman, citing the Supreme Court judgment which declared Usman as the valid leader of the opposition party.

Usman who led journalists on a tour of the secretariat said the incident occurred between Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday, shortly after party officials held a ceremony to reclaim the secretariat.

“Later on we were told that some hoodlums came in, broke the offices — and you have seen the extent of the damage — carted away documents and all that,” she said.

According to her, security personnel at the premises were forced at gunpoint to grant access to the intruders but when they refused, the intruders gained access by scaling the gate.

She added that the full extent of the missing materials was still being assessed.

An eyewitness to the incident, Aminu Salisu, a security guard at the secretariat on the night of the incident, alleged that former national Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure and his brother John Abure, in the company of the previous secretary, Umar Farouk, Youth leader, Kennedy Ahanotu and others, led hoodlums into the compound at 8:30 pm on the fateful day.

Speaking in pidgin English, Salisu said a DSS officer attached to Abure threatened to shoot him with his pistol if he refused to open the gate, but he informed him that the keys were not with him, after which the intruders later collected the keys from the second security man and proceeded on a physical assault on him (Salisu) after gaining entry into the compound.

“I just know documents were taken away because the day we came to take over the office, I saw quite a number of documents, but now they have disappeared. For me to know exactly what was in there will take a bit of time,” Usman said, describing the incident as “a very, very sad thing.”

Though linking the alleged break-in to the tenure of former party chairman Julius Abure, Usman stressed that the party leadership remained open to working with all stakeholders.

“We are not against anybody. We want to work with everybody… we just want to build the party,” she said.

She emphasised the importance of preserving institutional records, stating that documents belonging to public offices or political organisations should remain for successors.

“Every document that belongs to that office belongs to the office. When it’s your time to go, you leave them so that those who come behind know what has happened and can build on it,” she said.

The Labour Party chair confirmed that the matter had been reported to security agencies and expressed confidence that authorities would investigate.

“People should not think Nigeria is a lawless nation where you can do anything and get away with it,” she said, adding that she expected the Department of State Services (DSS) to take action following allegations that one of their officers attached to Julius Abure was part of the break and entry.

On internal party matters, Usman said the leadership had yet to be served with notice of any appeal related to the leadership transition, but however added that it would respond accordingly when formally notified.

Looking ahead, she outlined plans for membership revalidation as a priority. “The first building block is membership revalidation — registering old and new members and taking stock of what has happened before. If you don’t know how many you are, how do you plan?” she stated.

Usman also reiterated the party’s openness to new entrants and dismissed the notion that its future depended on any single individual, referencing former presidential candidate Peter Obi.

“Let’s not limit ourselves and claim there is only one person who can do it,” she said.

She added that the party was working with labour organisations, including representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and expressed optimism about grassroots mobilisation among workers and traders.

“Our potential is huge, unless we are not doing the right thing,” she concluded.