The faction of the Labour Party under the leadership of Julius Abure has vowed to appeal the judgment of the Federal High Court, which recognised the Esther Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee of the party.
The faction, in a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the high court ruling violated a precedent already established by the Supreme Court on the internal affairs of political parties in Nigeria.
The party said it was pleased that the Federal High Court in the FCT is not the final court and that it would proceed on appeal to place its position before the Court of Appeal.
According to Ifoh, they were not caught by surprise as the body language of the court had suggested a ruling in favour of the Nenadi-Usman camp.
He urged their supporters to remain calm as they won’t bow to intimidation and would do everything legally possible to reclaim their mandate.
“The judgment was a clear contradiction of the Supreme Court judgment which clearly stated that no court has the power to appoint leadership for any political party and that leadership issues are internal affairs of political parties.”
“Although we are yet to see the Certified True Copy of the judgment in order to fully comment on it, our position will become stronger when we do. However, from the brief we have received so far, it is clear that the party will appeal the judgment.
“Before today’s judgment, we suspected it might go this way because of the body language around the court. When the matter was first filed, it was assigned to Justice Omotosho, and suddenly there was a somersault, as another matter was filed which was similar in material respects. The one before Justice Omotosho was withdrawn and reassigned to Justice Peter Lifu. That was a red flag for us.
“Secondly, the court refused us the opportunity to respond to issues raised in the counter-affidavit filed by other parties and quickly adjourned for judgment. That was the second red flag.
“Our adversaries were all over the place jubilating weeks ahead of a judgment that had not been delivered, telling everyone they had already won. The jubilation by our adversaries was all over social media, claiming that today the judiciary would hand over the party to Dr Alex Otti.
“Looking at the judgment itself, Nigerians should recall that the Court of Appeal pronounced Julius Abure’s National Working Committee as the authentic leadership of the party. That pronouncement was what Nenadi Usman took to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal were wrong to have pronounced someone as the chairman of the party.
“Ironically, today, a Federal High Court has made a somersault and pronounced someone as the Caretaker National Chairman of the party. So what is the judiciary turning into?
“To us, this is a clear contradiction of what the Supreme Court said. The apex court held that all matters relating to the leadership of a political party are internal affairs of the party, and that has been its consistent position.
“The courts have repeatedly declined jurisdiction over matters concerning the internal affairs of political parties. In the judgment, the court, in one breath, said the Caretaker Committee was properly set up, and in another breath, said it was an internal affair of the party. In any event, the court was wrong to interpret the decision of the Supreme Court.
“Furthermore, the Supreme Court never said that our tenure had expired. It simply declined jurisdiction because the matter was an internal affair of the party.
“In any event, the tenure of the executive has never expired. The tenure was due to expire in June 2024, but the National Convention was held in March 2024 before the expiration of the executive, which produced the present leadership of the party. So for the court to state that the tenure had expired and that a vacuum was created is laughable.
“It is curious how the court arrived at the conclusion that there was a vacuum in the party’s leadership without examining the validity and legality of the national convention held on March 27, 2024,” Ifoh said.
Naijaonpoint recalls the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday sacked Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, the court relied on the April 4, 2025, verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to declare a former Minister of Finance, Esther Nenadi Usman, as the valid leader of the party.
Justice Lifu consequently ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognise the Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee as “the only valid authority to represent the Labour Party” pending the conduct of a national convention.