Dare Babalola
The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has dismissed the judgment of the Court of Appeal concerning the party’s leadership crisis, describing it as unacceptable and contrary to established legal principles.
He also announced that the party will challenge the decision at the Supreme Court.
In a statement personally signed on Tuesday, Abure expressed strong disagreement with the appellate court’s ruling, insisting that it failed to reflect the constitutional and legal realities governing political party administration in Nigeria.
“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,” he said.
He further argued that the court’s decision ran contrary to long-standing legal interpretations regarding internal party affairs.
“I want to say very clearly that the judgement is against all known principles of law. The courts, the Supreme Courts and all courts in Nigeria have stated very clearly that the issues of leadership of a political party is an internal affairs of a political party,” Abure stated.
Reacting to claims that his tenure had expired, Abure firmly rejected such assertions, maintaining that his leadership mandate remains valid.
“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,” he said.
Abure referenced the party’s convention held in Nnewi on March 27, 2024, insisting that it remains the legitimate foundation of the current leadership structure.
“Nigerians will recall that on the 27th of March 2024, we had a valid convention that was held in Nnewi and that convention is still valid and subsisting for 4 years,” he explained. “I want to say that the court today didn’t look at that before arriving at the conclusion that the tenure has expired.”
He also faulted the emergence of a caretaker committee formed in Umuahia, describing it as unconstitutional and inconsistent with the Labour Party’s internal rules.
“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 National Secretary of a Political Party who has the power to convene any NEC meeting of any of sort,” he added.
Declaring the party’s next line of action, Abure confirmed that the Labour Party would escalate the matter to the apex court.
“I want to say very 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,” he said.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld Senator Nenadi Usman’s position as the recognised head of the party, effectively rejecting the claim of Abure.
A three-judge panel of the appellate court unanimously ruled against Abure, describing his appeal as unconvincing and without legal foundation.
The court consequently upheld an earlier judgment of the Federal High Court which had affirmed Usman’s leadership status.
