The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared Julius Abure as the substantive Chairman of the Labour Party.
The judgement was pronounced by Justice Emeka Nwite on Tuesday, affirming the Abure-led leadership and the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced the national leadership.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Abure as the legitimate chairman, overriding INEC’s earlier stance that Abure’s leadership was invalid.
INEC had argued that the Labour Party’s national convention violated the Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Act, and that the party failed to meet legal requirements for holding the convention.
The national electoral body had said that Julius Abure is no longer the National Chairman of the Labour Party, citing that his tenure expired in June 2024. The announcement was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Labour Party, challenging their exclusion from INEC’s refresher training for uploading party agents ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
According to INEC, the Labour Party’s March 2024 National Convention, which re-elected Abure as chairman, violated both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act. As a result, INEC argued that the party’s leadership is invalid and that they only engage with parties that have legitimate leadership in place.
INEC’s legal team, led by Tanko Inuwa, SAN, emphasized that the Labour Party’s suit sought declaratory reliefs that cannot be granted based on admissions alone, and that the party needs to prove its case. Due to the Labour Party’s failure to meet the legal requirements for holding their national convention, INEC asserted that the party no longer has valid leadership.
It can be recalled that in September, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, and Governor of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti, wrote to the national chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to notify the regulatory body of the setting up of a 29-member caretaker committee to organise the party ‘s congresses and national convention within a period not exceeding 180 days.
This followed a stakeholders’ meeting which resulted in a caretaker committee led by Nenadi Usman set up to steer the affairs of the party and conduct a national convention.