Despite a recent visit by Abia State Governor Alex Otti and others to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to present the Certified True Copy (CTC) of a Supreme Court judgment regarding the Labour Party’s (LP) leadership, INEC still recognizes Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman on its website.
As of 5:29 PM on Wednesday, April 16, INEC’s site listed Julius Abure (by court order) as LP’s national chairman, alongside Farouk Umar as national secretary, Oluchi Operah as treasurer, Hadiza Kishimi as financial secretary, and Akingbade Oyelekan as legal adviser.
However, on April 4, a five-member Supreme Court panel overturned an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal in Abuja that had validated Abure’s position as chairman. The apex court held that the dispute was an internal party matter, over which the courts had no jurisdiction.
The ruling favored Senator Nenadi Usman, appointed as LP’s caretaker chairperson in September 2024. Both Abure’s and Usman’s factions have since interpreted the ruling in their favor, though the CTC clearly shows the Supreme Court nullified previous decisions by both the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal that had supported Abure.
The Supreme Court emphasized that party leadership issues fall outside the court’s jurisdiction and struck out the case for lack of merit. Justice John Okoro, through a judgment read by Justice Mohammed Baba Idris, declared that the courts should not have entertained the suit in the first place. He also dismissed Abure’s cross-appeal and cautioned political parties to adhere to their internal rules to avoid frequent legal battles.
Lawyer Abdul Mahmud commented on X (formerly Twitter) that Abure’s tenure had ended as of March 26, 2024, making him ineligible to organize the Nnewi convention that reaffirmed him as chairman. He stressed that with the court’s ruling, the Labour Party should revert to the leadership structure in place before March 27, 2024, and proceed to organize proper congressional elections.
The Federal High Court judgment Abure relied on had upheld the legitimacy of the Nnewi convention, but the Supreme Court has now invalidated that position. According to Mahmud, this strips Abure of any legal standing to continue claiming the LP chairmanship.
INEC, when contacted by Daily Sun, stated that its legal department is currently reviewing the Supreme Court’s CTC and will offer advice accordingly.
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