THE Supreme Court has sacked Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
The court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which recognised Abure as chairman of LP.
The apex court in a unanimous judgment on Friday, April 4, held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to declare Abure as the National Chairman of the LP, having earlier decided that the case was about the party’s leadership.
The five-member panel of the court declared that issues of leadership are internal affairs of a political party over which courts lack jurisdiction. The court ruled that Abure’s tenure had since expired.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Nenadi Usman, a former senator who heads the caretaker committee of the LP.
The court dismissed the appeal court ruling, declaring it invalid, while dismissing the opposing appeal by Abure’s faction of the LP for lacking merit.
Recall, The ICIR reported that the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, in January 2025, affirmed Abure as the national chairman of the LP.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, upheld the October 8 judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give the LP under Abure’s leadership all the rights and privileges accorded a political party duly registered in Nigeria.
In the judgment delivered on Friday, January, the lead judge, Hamma Barka, upheld the earlier judgment of November 13, 2024, which recognises Abure as the party’s national chairman.
The court affirmed that this decision had not been reversed by any other court.
It maintained that a previous judgment made by the Federal High Court on October 8, 2024, by Emeka Nwite was no longer valid because it was made without the court having the proper jurisdiction.
As a result, the Court of Appeal struck out that judgment and stated that its decision was consistent with other recent rulings, including one from the Supreme Court that affirmed the candidacy of an LP candidate in the Imo state governorship election.
The ICIR had reported that the Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier declared Abure as the substantive national chairman of the LP.
Delivering judgment in the suit on Tuesday, October 8, the judge, Emeka Nwite, affirmed the Abure-led leadership.
The court also recognised the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced Abure and other executives of the party.
The judge ordered INEC to recognise Abure as the legitimate chairman of the LP, overturning the commission’s rejection of the Abure-led leadership.
INEC had earlier claimed that the LP’s national convention held in Nnewi violated the Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Act and failed to meet legal requirements.
The electoral body claimed Abure’s tenure as LP chairman expired in June 2024 and refused to recognise him as the party’s national chairman.
The commission stated this in response to a lawsuit filed by the LP challenging its exclusion from INEC’s refresher training for uploading party agents ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
The INEC’s legal team, led by Tanko Inuwa, a senior advocate, said that the LP’s lawsuit seeking declaratory reliefs would not be granted.
The ICIR reported in September 2024 that the crisis in the LP reached its peak when the Abure-led faction withdrew the automatic ticket it previously earmarked for the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, and Abia State governor, Alex Otti, for the 2027 presidential and governorship elections, respectively.
A reporter with the ICIR
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