Banners bearing the pictures of Senator Nenadi Usman have emerged at the Labour Party National Headquarters in Abuja, replacing those of the embattled Julius Abure as the leader of the party.
The replacement signals an imminent takeover of the party facility by the Usman faction following the recent decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to officially recognise Usman and her team based on a court order.
If all continues as seen at the Labour Party headquarters located in the Utako District of the nation’s capital city, Usman could be set to emerge as the first female National Chairman of a major political party in Nigeria.
Naijaonpoint understands that a banner bearing the photographs of Usman and the acting National Secretary, Senator Darlington Nwochocha, is being hoisted around the building while those of Julius Abure have been removed.
Recall that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja 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.
The judgment followed a suit marked THC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025, filed by Usman before the court. Apart from Abure, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was also joined as a defendant in the case.
Justice Lifu held that the evidence before the court clearly established that Abure’s tenure as national chairman of the party had elapsed.
While rejecting Abure’s argument that the dispute was an internal party affair and therefore non-justiciable, the court ruled that the setting up of the Labour Party Caretaker Committee was “a necessity” arising from the Supreme Court’s decision.