The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favor of Julius Abure, declaring him the legitimate National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered this judgment on Tuesday, putting an end to the legal battle surrounding the leadership of the party.
This ruling marks a significant victory for Abure and his supporters, following months of internal conflict within the Labour Party.
The court also validated the March 2024 convention of the Labour Party held in Nnewi, Anambra State.
This convention had produced the current leadership of the party, led by Abure.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had previously refused to recognise Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the party.
INEC argued that the Labour Party failed to meet the legal requirements needed to hold a valid national convention in March 2024.
As a result, INEC claimed that the leadership of the party, including Abure, was not legitimate.
However, with the court’s ruling, INEC has been ordered to recognise Abure as the substantive Chairman of the party.
The electoral body has been instructed to comply with this decision and recognise the leadership produced by the March 2024 convention.
The leadership crisis in the Labour Party had been brewing for several months.
The issue came to a head when the party’s Edo State chapter suspended Julius Abure from his role as National Chairman earlier this year.
This suspension sparked a post-election crisis that divided the party into factions.
One faction, loyal to Abure, continued to recognise his leadership.
Another faction, which included some members of the party’s national executive, rejected his leadership and sought to have him removed.
In May, the crisis deepened when a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court issued an order barring Julius Abure and other key leaders of the party from parading themselves as national officers.
Those affected by the order included the party’s National Secretary, Farouk Ibrahim, the National Organising Secretary, Clement Ojukwu, and the Treasurer, Oluchi Opara.
As the legal battles raged on, tensions within the Labour Party grew even more heated.
In September, the Abure-led faction of the Labour Party accused Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, and Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, of betrayal.
The faction claimed that Obi and Otti had failed to support the leadership of the party and had instead aligned themselves with those pushing for Abure’s removal.
This accusation added another layer of complexity to the already strained relationship between Abure and some top members of the party.
Speaking through its spokesperson, Obiora Ifoh, the Abure faction expressed frustration with those who were advocating for Abure’s removal.
Ifoh suggested that some of the people pushing for Abure’s ouster were motivated by selfish interests.
He claimed that many of these individuals lacked the funds to purchase nomination forms ahead of the 2023 general election, implying that they were now attempting to undermine Abure’s leadership as a form of retaliation.
One of the key players in this saga has been the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The electoral body had refused to recognise Julius Abure as the legitimate National Chairman of the Labour Party.
In a counter-affidavit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, INEC argued that the March 2024 national convention, which had produced Abure as chairman, violated both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act.
INEC maintained that it could only deal with political parties that had valid and legitimate leadership in place.
As a result, INEC excluded the Labour Party from a series of preparatory activities, including the training of party agents for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.
INEC also urged the court to dismiss the Labour Party’s suit, insisting that the party was not entitled to the reliefs it sought.
The commission’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Tanko Inuwa, argued that the Labour Party needed to prove its case and that it could not rely on admissions alone to get a favorable judgment.
However, with the court’s ruling in favour of Abure, INEC is now compelled to recognise the Abure-led leadership.
