Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warns US military will face a “firm response” if America repeats strikes

Picture by A Jazeera 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have warned that the US military will face a severe and “firm response” if Washington repeats strikes after a US attack on southern Iran, saying any renewed action will be met with retaliation.

Thia is against the background dealing that yhe United States and Iran have reached a 60-day framework agreement to extend the ceasefire and begin negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

The deal according to a source, still requires final approval from President Donald Trump, Axios reported on Thursday citing two US officials.

The commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran said Iran’s armed forces were at “peak readiness” and had launched new military drills immediately after fighting stopped.

“The mechanisms are designed in a way that allows a response to any enemy action in the shortest possible time,” Hassan Hassanzadeh said on Thursday.

Hassanzadeh also said attacks on Basij centers during the conflict had failed to weaken support for the paramilitary force.


"The president conveyed a message to the mediators that he wants a few days to think about it before making a final decision," a senior US official said.


Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had accused the US and Israel of trying to create internal division within Iran to make up for its “military defeats”.

Tehran accused the U.S. of another ceasefire violation and said it retaliated by targeting an American base after a second round of what the Pentagon calls "purely defensive" strikes against drone operations. CENTCOM said Kuwait intercepted an incoming Iranian missile, and there were no reports of a U.S. base being hit.



US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an escalation to mount pressure on Tehran on Thursday said in a post on X that the US will shut down Iranian airlines’ access to landing spots, refuelling and ticket sales.


Bessent opined that the Treasury Department is crippling Iran’s economy, with unpaid troops, police absenteeism, a collapsing currency, and sanctions now targeting Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority and key transportation sectors.


In a warning to Oman, Bessent said the US will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz. Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved - directly or indirectly - in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized.


Yesterday, President Trump threatened to "blow up" Oman if they do not "behave just like everybody else."

ATTEMPTED ADMINISTRATIVE COUP IN OGUN LABOUR PARTY: Members Demand National Leadership Intervention Over Alleged Substitution of Congress Winners

Abeokuta, Ogun State: — Concerned members of the Labour Party in Ogun State have raised alarm over what they describe as an “attempted administrative coup” following the conduct of the April 25, 2025 State Congress, alleging unauthorized replacement and substitution of the names of officers who participated, and were declared winners under the supervision of regulatory agencies.

The congress, held on April 25 in Abeokuta, was monitored and observed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Department of State Services (DSS), in line with Section 82(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines on party congresses. 

According to party members present at the exercise, the process was concluded with a list of duly elected officers and delegates ratified on site. However, reports circulating within the state chapter indicate that a different list containing substituted names has surfaced on the party's loop by one Mr. Akeeb Adesola, a childhood and political ally of one former gubernatorial aspirant in the state who for long has had his eye on hijacking the party structures, known to be a transactional and sleepy sleeky politicians through an unholy alliance consumated by him with the PDP in 2023 general elections, subverting and mismanaging the financial proceeds emanating from the deal is now the Hackman allegedly replacing those who emerged through the monitored process.

Most recently, while Apagun was addressing the press on the matter, he stated unequivocally that  "democracy dies not with a bang, but with the quiet stroke of a pen replacing what the people have already chosen. What we are witnessing in the presumed actions of the National Working Committee is not party administration. It is the deliberate erasure of due process and the substitution of the will of the people with the convenience of a few."  

“This is not just an internal disagreement. It is an attempt to subvert the will of the members and undermine the integrity of an exercise witnessed by INEC, the Police, and DSS, and a report to that effect should be brought forward by the Congress Committee as appointed by the National leadership or that of the official report by the INEC, to substantiate their claims, a party elder from Ogun Central said. “If the original list observed by the authorities is not upheld, it will erode trust in the party and expose us to avoidable litigation.”They will have to show us where their purported Congress took place with evidence said another.

Members warn that proceeding with the substituted list risks plunging the party into another round of legal battles similar to those that have previously distracted and decimated the Labour Party across the nation. They argue that such a move contradicts the party’s constitution and national directives on adherence to due process and observed procedures.

The uproar within the ranks and file has grown in recent days, with ward and local government executives calling for urgent clarification and corrective action. Several members have immediately left the platform while others threatened to approach the courts if the national leadership fails to intervene and restore the outcome of the April 25 congress as monitored.

“We are drawing the attention of the National Chairman, the National Working Committee, to this development,” a statement from the concerned members reads. “Silence or inaction at this stage will be interpreted as endorsement of impunity, and the party will bear the consequences.”

They are urging the national leadership to:

1. Retrieve and compare the list submitted to the national secretariat against the list signed and observed by INEC, Police, and DSS on April 25.

2. Uphold the original outcome of the congress in line with the Electoral Act and party guidelines.

3. Discipline any official found culpable of altering or substituting the names of duly elected members.

4. Re-engage stakeholders in Ogun State to prevent further escalation and preserve party unity ahead of upcoming political activities.

The Labour Party national secretariat has not issued an official response as of press time.

Aside Ogun State labour Party, there have been reported case in different states like Oyo, Kogi, Plateau and others that the names of the Congress duly elected persons were either changed or outrightly jettisoned for Abure led group or certain loyalists who never partake in any State Congress. Is this not impunity?

The party's National Convention in Umuahia, Abia State approved the States Congresses and Invalidated the Abure congresses. For the National Leadership to revert to otherwise calls for concerns that the party's BOT must look into.

Party observers note that unresolved disputes at the state level have historically led to protracted legal disputes that weakened the party’s electoral performance. With 2027 approaching, members say the handling of the Ogun situation will signal whether the party intends to enforce internal democracy and genuine intentions to win the upcoming general elections or tolerate administrative manipulation.

Why Court nullifies INEC guidelines, says political parties have till September 2026 to submit membership register

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday invalidated guidelines by the Independent National Electoral Commission mandating political parties to submit a register and database of all members on May 10 to be eligible to contest for the 2027 general elections.

Justice M.G. Umar delivered the judgement in a suit filed by the Youth Party, compelling INEC to follow the 120 days pre-election deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act 2026 for the submission of party registers.

“A Declaration is made that having regards to Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 which requires political parties to submit the personal particulars of their candidates not later than 120 days to an election, the Defendant cannot lawfully abridge or limit that statutory period by prescribing a shorter time frame in its 2027 elections,” stated the judgement.

All registered parties, according to Mr Umar, have until September to submit an updated list of all party members, nullifying the initial May 10 deadline.

The judgement gives politicians, who have lost primary elections in their respective parties, the leeway to defect to another political party to continue their ambitions.

The presidential and national assembly elections have been scheduled for January 16, 2027 while governorship and state Houses of assembly polls are set to hold on February 6, 2027.

Wave Of Defections Hits Imo Labour Party, Senate Candidate Resigns as Abure Loyalists enthroned

The Labour Party (LP) in Imo State is facing a major crisis following a wave of resignations by senior members, including a prominent Senate candidate as a result of lingering crises within the national structure of the party.

The National Convention in Umuahia, Abia State among the eleven resolutions reached approved the congresses conducted nationwide. The convention also Invalidated illegal congresses conducted by the supreme Court sacked Julius Abure. Senior INEC officers attended the Umuahia Convention.

In the name of reconciliation and harmonization which ensured that. Abure Loyalists were appointed into the national working committee of the party, the state structures and Congress Elected officers have been reported removed and their names may not be submitted to the INEC .


In Imo State, Deacon Chuka Solomon Obaego, a leading figure in the party and Senate aspirant for the Okigwe Zone (Imo North), formally resigned from the Labour Party with effect from April 30, 2026.


Obaego, who hails from Umuoke in Obowo Local Government Area, had been campaigning under the banner of “A Golden Dawn.”His departure has triggered a chain reaction, with several other party officials across the state also submitting their resignation letters.


Sources within the party described the exits as a “coordinated withdrawal” from the Labour Party’s structure in the state.


Although the resignation letters did not explicitly state reasons, insiders point to growing internal tensions and strategic realignments by members ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to the reports, the mass defection has created significant operational gaps for the Labour Party, particularly in Imo North Senatorial Zone, at a time of intense political realignment across Imo State.


As of Tuesday, the Labour Party leadership in Imo State had yet to issue an official statement on the development.


The exodus comes amid reports of lingering crises within the national structure of the Labour Party, further weakening the party’s position in the South-East state.

The overwhelming general opinions of members who stood with the part during the crisis is that nothing should displaced any Congress Elected officers of the party at any level and that the guidelines for harmonization should be strictly followed. Those working currently with the Nenadi Esther Usman are orchestrating plans in different states aiming at dislodging the State Structures for Abure men to take over. 

The uncertainty in the party is majorly responsible for the low turnout of the aspirants obtaining expression of interest forms and nomination forms of the Labour Party.

Julius Abure Sets to Dislodge Nenadi from within as reconciliation talks with Otti collapsed

The Labour Party's Factional National Chairman Julius Abure, has dismissed speculations that reconciliation talks between his camp and Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, collapsed over alleged financial demands, insisting that money was never discussed during the closed-door meeting. Punch newspaper reported Wednesday.

The supreme Court sacked former chairman disclosed this in an interview with  news men amid a lingering leadership crisis rocking the opposition party.

The National leader of the party and governor of Abia State Alex Otti had last month declared that the Labour Party remained open to reconciliation with Abure and his loyalists ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Otti had made the remark during the inaugural meeting of the party’s National Working Committee held at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja, where he attended as an observer.

The party during the National Convention had absorbed some of his loyalists and through consensus appointed them into important NWC positions. Notable among them is Madam Hilda Dokubo who is now the National women's Leader of the party under Nenadi Esther Usman led National Working Committee.

But speaking with Newsmen , Abure clarified that the recent engagement with Otti was strictly convened to explore reconciliation and chart a path toward unity within the party, but eventually ended in a deadlock over disagreements surrounding the control and structures of the party while his loyalists are already penetrating the structures at all levels under Nenadi.

While He (Abure) said the talks failed because Otti allegedly insisted that the existing Abure's structure be dissolved before any reconciliation could move forward. Sources confirmed that already the Abure loyalists have infiltrated the ranks and files of the party's structures both at the national and States levels to deray and dislodge the Nenadi leadership by any means possible.

With the pressures from within now around the National Chairman, the decisions of the party at the national convention and congresses organized and approved at the convention are been jetitioned and disregarded as many state leadership under Nenadi are currently been discarded.

Certain sources with the party argued that if Abure and his followers would be absorbed into the legally and authentic structure of the Labour Party, it should be after all of Abure's litigation against the party at the supreme Court discarded. They urged Nenadi to be careful and keep her structures  Nationwide.

Abure said : “We need to make it categorically clear that the meeting we had with Governor Otti was purely for reconciliation and how to forge ahead. But that meeting produced no headway because the governor refused to give an inch due to his earlier recalcitrant stand.

First, to share the positions in the NWC. Secondly, to take his governorship ticket and produce all the state House of Assembly candidates, including all the candidates for House of Representatives and Senate in Abia state.

Lastly, to produce any other governorship, House of Representatives and senatorial candidates in other states where he might have an interest.

“We further conceded the offices of the National Secretary and other key national offices. But with all these sacrifices from the leadership, the governor declined all the proposals and insisted that all positions in the NWC have already been filled by him, while offering us the Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Board of Trustees.”

Abure also rejected allegations that he demanded financial inducement from the governor as part of the reconciliation process, describing the claims as false and deliberate misinformation.

“We also need to make it very clear that a lot of misconceptions have been spreading, probably deliberately, that the leadership of the Labour Party requested huge sums of money from Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, to reconcile.

“At no time was the issue of money discussed. Nobody made any financial requests, and nobody offered any money to anyone. We are therefore calling on all party members and supporters to disregard the fake news, whose sources are not too difficult to decipher,” he clarified.

The factional chairman expressed disappointment over the outcome of the reconciliation effort, blaming what he described as Otti’s intransigence for the collapse of the talks.

Abure further stated that his leadership would continue efforts to “recover the party” from what he termed “political buccaneers and merchants” allegedly bent on destabilising the Labour Party.

While he expressed confidence that the lingering leadership dispute would eventually be resolved by the Supreme Court following the appeal filed at the apex court, his loyalists within the continually recognized Nenadi led NWC team are already doing internal damaging and strategic move to reposition the Abure structures within the system.

There were clear indications that neither of the two sides are not willing to support the Nigeria's incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC. Members of Abure factions had more than two months ago declared support for the incumbent President, while Nenadi Esther Usman have not openly endorsed the president, members of her NWC from southern Zones have reportedly been routing for Tinubu while LP members in the National Assembly are also reportedly supporting the president.

The endless legal struggles and the victory secured from Court will become meaning if Abure can dislodged from within,  and very useless if both agreed to work and support the anti people Leadership of Bola Hammed Tinubu.

Nigerians who are at the receiving end of the bad governance and who genuinely want a change of leadership in the country through any of the opposition political parties have to do a rethink  and thorough re-evaluation.

Diaspora Labour Party Chapter Enthusiastically Endorses Bold, Free Nomination Forms to Empower Youth and Women Leaders for a New Nigeria

Washington DC, May 20, 2026

The Labour Party LP) diaspora chapter is proud to announce a groundbreaking initiative led by our National Chairman, Barr. Julius Abure, aimed at democratizing access to political leadership by distributing free nomination forms. This initiative is designed specifically to empower competent youths, women, and other underrepresented groups in our society, enabling them to compete for various political positions in the upcoming elections.

In a press conference held on May 18, 2026, Barr. Abure articulated the party's commitment to enhancing political participation by removing the financial barriers that often deter qualified candidates from seeking office. He emphasized the Labour Party's mission to uplift the voices of those who have been historically marginalized, stating, “This initiative is a pivotal step towards lifting the burden of monetization in our political landscape. We believe that every Nigerian, regardless of their financial background, deserves the opportunity to lead and effect change.”

*Key Highlights of the Initiative*

*Free Nomination Forms*

All nomination forms for various political positions will be available at no cost. Aspirants can easily download the forms from Labour Party’s official platforms, fill them out, and submit them to their respective state chairpersons.

*Targeting Youth and Women*

This initiative is particularly focused on empowering youths and women, who are crucial for driving innovation and change in Nigeria's political landscape.

*Encouraging Competence over Wealth*

By eliminating fees associated with candidacy, the Labour Party aims to prioritize competence and integrity over financial power, fostering a new generation of leaders who can represent the interests of all Nigerians.

*Upcoming Primaries*

The party's governorship and state Houses of Assembly primaries are scheduled for May 27, 2026, followed by House of Representatives and Senate primaries on May 29, 2026. A consensus-driven selection process for the presidential candidate will also take place on the same day in Abuja.

Prof. Eddie Oparaoji, Chairman of the Diaspora Labour Party Chapter, endorsed this initiative, highlighting its alignment with the Labour Party's core values of inclusivity and social justice. He stated, “This initiative is not merely about politics; it’s about giving hope and representation to those who have been overlooked for too long. We are excited to see the positive impact this will have on our communities as we work towards a new Nigeria.”

As the Labour Party prepares for the 2027 elections, we call on all eligible individuals to seize this opportunity and participate in shaping the future of our nation. Together, we can build a political landscape that reflects the diversity and strength of our great nation.

Prof. Eddie Oparaoji  

Chairman, Diaspora Labour Party Chapter &

Director General, Directorate of International and Diaspora Affairs (DIDA)