2027: Labour Party mobilisation directorate opens door to new alliance

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By Luminous Jannamike

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ABUJA — The Labour Party’s Directorate of Mobilization and Integration, DMI, has opened consultations on possible new political and institutional alliances ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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The move signals that the mobilisation directorate is keeping its options open ahead of the elections, even as it maintains its strategic relationship with the Labour Party.

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In a communiqué signed after its national strategy session, the DMI said its Director-General, Marcel Ngogbehei, and his leadership team had been mandated to explore fresh partnerships.

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Ngogbehei, who presided over the meeting, said the DMI’s mission remained broader than any single political party or leader.

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“The DMI remains willing to work with the Abure-led Labour Party where our objectives align, while simultaneously exploring relationships with other political and institutional stakeholders,” the directorate said.

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It stressed, however, that the consultations did not amount to a declaration of a new alliance, but were aimed at identifying areas of cooperation with other parties and institutions.

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The DMI described its relationship with the Labour Party as a strategic partnership, rather than an organisational merger, tracing it to the collaboration between the party and the Obidient Movement ahead of the 2023 elections.

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It recalled that the partnership was facilitated in 2022 when Ngogbehei was chairman of the Coalition for Peter Obi, culminating in the Labour Party/CPO Leadership Summit in Abuja on August 11, 2022.

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The directorate said its identity, membership and structures remained distinct from the Labour Party’s internal affairs.

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It also reviewed the political fallout from the Labour Party’s leadership and zoning disputes, particularly their impact on grassroots members and volunteers who supported the party in 2023.

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The DMI further questioned the zoning arguments advanced during the Labour dispute against the political arrangement that subsequently emerged in the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, alleging that the party’s National Leader, National Chairman and presidential candidate were all from the South.

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The directorate resolved to maintain organisational continuity while respecting binding court decisions and applicable electoral laws.

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The meeting also received an update on the DMI’s nationwide structure, with the organisation putting its network at more than 500 state and FCT coordinators and over 11,000 coordinators across the 774 local government areas.

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Each coordinator has been mandated to recruit at least 10 core operational team members, creating a potential network of about 120,000 coordinators and core team members, subject to verification.

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The DMI said the network was built through the efforts of citizens and volunteers and should not become the property of any political party, faction or individual.

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“The sacrifices and contributions of our coordinators and volunteers will remain central to decisions on our future direction,” it said.

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The directorate also thanked Labour Party leadership, saying its experience with the party had reinforced the need for citizen structures capable of surviving changes in political parties and individual leadership.

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