By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has rejected the Court of Appeal’s verdict affirming Senator Nenadi Usman as the party’s National Chairman.
Abure, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, April 21, described the appellate court’s ruling as unacceptable and vowed to challenge it at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
He noted that the Appeal Court’s judgement ran contrary to established legal principles and party procedures.
Abure argued that party leadership issues remain internal and beyond judicial interference, stressing that the court’s decision did not align with existing legal precedents.
He said, “We have seen what transpired today at the Appeal Court, and we want to say very clearly that the judgement is not acceptable to all of us in the Labour Party led by my humble self.
“I want to say very clearly that the judgement is against all known principles of law. The courts, the Supreme Court, and all courts in Nigeria have stated very clearly that the issue of leadership of a political party is an internal affair of a political party.
“It is also not true, and I disagree when people say that the tenure of this executive has expired. That is untrue and very unacceptable to us.”
The embattled party chairman further noted that the party’s convention in Nnewi on March 27, 2024, produced a valid leadership expected to run for four years, adding that the court failed to properly consider this in reaching its conclusion.
He said, “I want to say that the court today didn’t look at that before arriving at the conclusion that the tenure has expired. I must also say clearly that the Umuahia meeting, which produced the Caretaker Committee, was also against the Labour Party constitution.
“It is only the National Chairman and Secretary of a political party who have the power to convene any NEC meeting of any sort. Let me state clearly that we are going to appeal that decision.
“Today’s decision of the Appeal Court is not acceptable to us, and we reject it in its entirety. We have put our legal team together, and we are going to file an appeal and move to the Supreme Court.”
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Recall that a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja had, on Tuesday, unanimously dismissed Abure’s appeal, describing it as unconvincing and lacking legal foundation.
The court upheld the January 21 judgement by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, which affirmed the legitimacy of the 29-member caretaker committee of the party led by Usman.
In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi, the court held that the earlier Supreme Court judgement had conclusively settled the leadership dispute within the party by nullifying the convention that purportedly returned Abure as National Chairman.
The appellate court’s ruling marks a major setback for Abure’s faction amid the leadership tussle that engulfed the party, with legal developments tilting recognition in favour of Usman’s camp.
Following the Federal High Court’s ruling in January, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) formally recognised the Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the authentic leadership of the party.
As part of the changes, INEC updated its records, replacing Abure’s name with that of Usman as Acting National Chairman on its official platform.
