Labour Party Denies Alleged Coup Plot, Accuses Dissident Of Malicious Frame-Up
•By Admin
ABUJA – THE Labour Party has strongly denied allegations of plotting to overthrow the administration of President Bola Tinubu, describing the claims as a “phantom coup plot” orchestrated to malign key figures within the party.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party said it was alarmed by a petition purportedly authored by one Abayomi Arabambi, who it described as a “discredited former member” falsely parading himself as a spokesperson of the Labour Party.
According to the statement signed by Ken Eluma Asogwa, Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Interim National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, the petition was addressed to the National Security Adviser and accused prominent Labour Party figures, including former presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Comrade Joe Ajaero, Senator Victor Umeh, Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, and Dr. Yunusa Tanko, of plotting to violently topple the Tinubu government under the guise of organising a “One Million Man March.”
Arabambi reportedly alleged that the planned protest, scheduled for July 30, was also aimed at reclaiming the party’s former national secretariat currently occupied by the ousted chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.
The party, however, dismissed the allegations as “laughable, malicious, and dangerously misleading.”
“The leadership of the Labour Party is not aware of any planned protest anywhere in Nigeria under the auspices of the party,” the statement read. “We have neither authorised nor sanctioned any individual or group to march on the streets in the name of reclaiming a property the party has long abandoned.”
The party explained that following the Supreme Court judgment of April 4, 2025, which affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman as the legitimate leader of the Labour Party, it had formally petitioned law enforcement agencies to enforce the ruling and vacate the secretariat building. It said the failure of the security agencies to act prompted the party to relocate to a new and more secure office, rendering the claims of a planned forceful takeover “baseless.”
What the party finds most disturbing, however, is the attempt to link the alleged protest with a coup plot against the federal government.
“How an alleged protest to reclaim a party office translates to a violent toppling of a sitting government beats the imagination of any right-thinking Nigerian,” the statement noted, warning that such allegations hark back to “a dark era when individuals were roped into phantom coup plots simply for opposing the government of the day.”
The party further alleged that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) had already begun harassing key officials based on the “concocted tale,” warning that such actions risk undermining Nigeria’s democratic stability.
Calling on security agencies to investigate the petition and its sponsors, the Labour Party urged the public to disregard what it described as a “poorly scripted political drama” aimed at discrediting its leaders and destabilising the political space.
“We remain committed to the rule of law and democratic principles,” the statement concluded.
•INDEPENDENTNG.