THE Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Wednesday, March 6, affirmed Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
A Justice at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Hamza Muazu, had in 2023, granted an ex-parte order, ordering that Abure and two other national officers stop parading themselves as leaders of the party for allegedly forging national documents.
The ex-parte application was argued before the court by the plaintiffs’ lawyer, James Onoja,
Onoja told the court that Abure and the others allegedly forged several documents like receipts, seals and affidavits of the court to carry out criminal activities.
He also noted that the LP had received a letter from the Chief Registrar of the Court concerning documents that were allegedly used in criminal activities by Abure and the three others.
However, in the judgement on Wednesday, Justice Hamman Barka held that the high court was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction on the matter.
Delivering judgment in the appeal filed by Abure challenging the decision of the trial court, Barka, leading a three-member panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal held that Abure’s appeal has merit and was accordingly allowed.
The Appellate Court ruled in favour of Abure and ordered the respondent, Lamidi Apapa, to pay a cost of one million naira.
He said, “The judgement of the lower court is hereby set aside” he held and awarded a cost of N1 million in favour of the appellant.
The ICIR’s reported that Abure has been involved in a leadership tussle with Apapa’s party faction since after the presidential election of 2023.
Abure was arrested in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Wednesday, February 21. This followed a petition, including allegations of threats to life and attempted murder, among other infractions, by the LP Youth Leader, Eragbe Anselm Aphimia.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M