Pat Stevens/
The Labour Party has welcomed the defection of its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the African Democratic Congress lADC) but its celebratory statement has triggered widespread criticism after being riddled with glaring grammatical errors that have overshadowed its political message.
Obi formally announced his defection to the ADC on Wednesday, ending months of speculation over his political future following a prolonged internal crisis within the Labour Party.
The defection was confirmed after he appeared at a public event in Enugu alongside leaders of the ADC.
Reacting, the Labour Party issued a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, declaring that the party had been “finally liberated” by Obi’s exit.
However, the statement itself quickly became the centre of attention, not for its political content, but for its language.
One of the earliest errors appears in the subheading, which reads: “As Party asks forgiveness from Nigerians for fielding unfitting presidential candidate in 2023.” Critics pointed out that the phrase omits a definite article, noting that standard English usage would require “an unfitting presidential candidate” and “the party”.
In another section, the statement declares: “For us in Labour Party, we wondered why it took them this long to make the move because we have since September 2024, parted ways with Peter Obi.”
Language analysts have described the sentence as clumsy and grammatically unsound, citing the missing article before Labour Party, the misplaced comma after 2024, and the confused tense structure.
The statement further asserts: “As a matter of fact, the party had suspended many of the lawmakers for anti party.”
Observers note that “anti party” is incomplete and grammatically incorrect, arguing that the phrase should read “anti-party activities”.
Perhaps one of the most criticised passages concerns the South East ministerial appointments under President Bola Tinubu.
The statement reads: “While some states of the federation boast as much as five ministers, the entire states in the South East was given a paltry five ministerial slot.”
This sentence contains multiple errors, including a subject–verb disagreement between “states” and “was”, as well as the singular use of “slot” after “five ministerial”.
Elsewhere, the party states: “The crisis we had in Labour Party was caused by Peter Obi and the Abia state governor, Dr. Alex Otti. It was them that sponsored the insurrection.”
The phrase “It was them that sponsored” has been widely criticised as ungrammatical, with commentators noting that correct usage would require “They were the ones who sponsored”.
The statement also claims that Obi has lost political relevance, stating: “He has clearly lost the charm that had endeared him to the people prior 2023.”
Here again, critics point to the incorrect omission of the preposition “to”, noting that the phrase should read “prior to 2023”.
Despite the statement’s celebratory tone, political analysts say the language undermines the credibility of the party’s message.
A media analyst based in Abuja, who spoke with Newsmakerslive.org, described the document as “a self-inflicted wound”.
“When a party attacks a former presidential candidate but does so in language riddled with basic grammatical errors, it shifts attention away from the substance of the argument and towards the party’s competence,” the analyst said.
Peter Obi has not directly responded to the Labour Party’s statement. However, in his remarks at the ADC event in Enugu, he spoke of the need for “a new political direction” and “a platform anchored on discipline and structure”, comments many observers interpret as a veiled rebuke of his former party.
While the Labour Party insists that it has “since September 2024 parted ways” with Obi, his defection marks a significant moment in Nigeria’s opposition politics, particularly in the South East, where he continues to command substantial grassroots support.
As reactions continue to trail both the defection and the statement, attention remains firmly fixed on whether the Labour Party can recover politically and reputationally from a message that many Nigerians are now discussing less for what it said, and more for how it was said.
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