The Supreme Court has nullified the recognition of Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), overturning a previous judgment by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Appeal Court upholds Abure as Labour Party chairman
A five-member panel of justices delivered the ruling on Friday, setting aside the appellate court’s January 17 decision that had upheld Abure’s leadership. The apex court held that the matter was an internal party affair and beyond the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.
The ruling followed a leadership crisis within the party that led the National Executive Committee to remove Abure and set up a 29-member caretaker committee. The new leadership, chaired by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman with Hon. Darlington Nwokocha as secretary, was inaugurated during a stakeholders’ meeting held in Umuahia. The event was hosted by Abia State Governor Alex Otti, with Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi in attendance.
Abure had challenged his removal at the Federal High Court in Abuja, arguing that he was first appointed acting chairman in March 2021 and later elected substantive chairman at the party’s national convention on March 27, 2024. He claimed his leadership oversaw the nomination of candidates for elections in Edo and Ondo states.
He also alleged that while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued notices to him and other party leaders regarding election materials, it failed to inform him of a training on uploading data to its portal for the Ondo governorship election information he said he eventually obtained through his membership in the Inter-Party Advisory Council.
Justice Emeka Nwite had earlier ruled in his favour on October 8, 2024, ordering INEC to recognise his leadership and grant the party access to the election portal. That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal but has now been quashed by the Supreme Court, which dismissed Abure’s faction’s cross-appeal as lacking merit.
