Valentine Ozigbo, a governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, has described the Labour Party (LP) as a “failing enterprise,” warning that the party is heading for a wave of mass defections.
Ozigbo, who was formerly a governorship aspirant in the Labour Party before defecting to the APC in February 2025, made the statement during an appearance on national television on Monday.
He criticised the LP’s leadership for the ongoing internal crisis, expressing disappointment over how the party has evolved since the 2023 general elections.
Ozigbo, a former close ally of LP’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, said Obi has failed to manage the party’s leadership dispute, which he believes has deepened the division within the party.
“I’m totally disenchanted with what the party has become. It is not what people think it is,” he said, stressing that his relationship with Obi remains civil despite their political differences.
When pressed further on what went wrong, Ozigbo said he expected Obi to take decisive steps to resolve the LP’s leadership and legal crises, but he failed to do so, prompting his decision to exit the party.
“I had a problem with Labour Party, and by extension, I would expect Peter Obi to take certain preemptive steps to deal with some of these issues in Labour Party, which, for maybe, he has his reasons not to have handled the way I would have expected, but I don’t want to be part of what I can consider now a failing enterprise. I had to move on,” he said.
Ozigbo further denied leaving the LP because Obi did not protect his interests, adding that his defection to the APC was triggered by the party’s lack of proper leadership.
“I would expect the Labour Party to be better handled, better led, than what I’m seeing,” he stated.
Despite his disappointment with how Obi handled the LP crisis, Ozigbo maintained he had a civilised relationship with him, adding that both of them were now focused on their political goals.
He said, “Peter Obi is in the Labour Party, having his competition around the coalition, talking about 2027. Valentine Ozigbo is in the APC talking about 2025. We have different objectives right now, and that’s why I had to take my own path. I joined APC from the Labour Party and I will make my case very clear, I didn’t just leave the Labour Party, I made analogies of what I think about these parties in Nigeria”.
