Nenadi, Otti Face Backlash Over Agada’s Alleged Disqualification After Millions Spent

A fresh storm has engulfed the Labour Party (LP) after stakeholders and supporters of presidential aspirant, Arc. Peter Agada, accused the party leadership of orchestrating what they described as a calculated political ambush to stop his presidential ambition after allegedly extracting over ₦300 million from him.
The accusation, directed at the party’s National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, and the Governor Alex Otti-led National Executive Council (NEC), comes barely hours before the Labour Party’s presidential primary scheduled for Saturday.
In a strongly worded statement that exposes deepening cracks within the opposition party, the aggrieved stakeholders described Agada’s sudden disqualification as unconstitutional, fraudulent, and a direct betrayal of the Labour Party’s proclaimed ideals of fairness and equal opportunity.
The group claimed the party leadership collected huge sums from Agada for nomination forms, secretariat levies, campaign obligations, and nationwide political activities, only to abruptly disqualify him at the “eleventh hour.”
According to the statement, Agada had already scaled the party’s screening exercise on May 6 and had gone on to establish campaign structures across the country before receiving a disqualification letter on May 28.
The reason given by the party, according to the stakeholders, was an alleged decision by the Labour Party to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South — a claim the group dismissed as deceptive and unconstitutional.
“There is no provision for zoning in the Labour Party constitution,” the statement declared, accusing the Nenadi Usman-led National Working Committee (NWC) of inventing rules to edge out a formidable contender after collecting massive funds from him.
The stakeholders argued that if zoning truly existed, the party should never have accepted Agada’s nomination fees, screened him successfully, or allowed him invest heavily in nationwide mobilisation.
“What happened is nothing short of political fraud,” the statement alleged.
The crisis took a more dramatic turn as the group accused the party leadership of hypocrisy and selective justice, alleging that zoning principles were ignored in other contests within the party where individuals and family members from the same constituencies were allegedly cleared for multiple positions without objection.
The stakeholders described Agada’s exclusion as “naked apartheid” and warned that the action risks pushing the Labour Party back into the era of internal impunity and corruption that once damaged its public image.
They further alleged that since the emergence of the Nenadi Usman leadership at the Umuahia convention, elected party executives in several states had been replaced with loyalists and political cronies allegedly favoured by the national leadership.
The group demanded the immediate reversal of Agada’s disqualification, insisting that denying him participation in the primaries could trigger legal action and a wider internal revolt within the party.
“If this injustice is not corrected before the primaries begin, we shall have no option than to pursue legal redress,” the stakeholders warned.
The latest controversy now throws the Labour Party into another round of uncertainty at a critical political moment, raising fears of widening internal fractures ahead of the 2027 elections.