Following the judgment of the Supreme Court sacking Julius Abure as Chairman of the Labour Party, as reported by ENigeria News on Friday, the leadership crisis trailing the party took a new dimension, with a faction of the party loyal to the embattled National Chairman insisting that it’s either him or nothing – indicating that the judgment has further sunk the party into a more delicate crisis.
The Supreme Court panel further held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party over which the courts lacked jurisdiction to handle. The court further allowed the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and one other and held that it was meritorious.
The apex court proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the Labour Party as being unmeritorious.
But in a surprising turn of events, moments after the news went viral, a statement credited to the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary maintained that Julius Abure remains the party’s authentic Chairman.
The statement read, “The Supreme Court strikes out Nenadi and Abure suits, saying only political parties can determine who their leaders are. It also said that the courts shouldn’t dabble in the affairs of the political parties. Dr. Julius Abure is still the National Chairman of the Labour Party.”
ENigeria News reports that later on Friday, during a press conference in Abuja in which Abure was absent, Ifoh strongly maintained his earlier view that, “The Supreme Court judgment didn’t sack Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure. Rather, it rightly upheld the preceding and accumulated High Court and appeal court judgments upholding the immutability of the responsibility of Labour Party structures to choose its leaders.”
“The judgement did not also set aside the Appeal Court judgement in Labour Party vs Ebiseni and two others (CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024) delivered on 13 November 2024, which affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party. The judgment is still valid and subsisting and has not been appealed.
“The implication is very clear. Abure remains the Labour Party’s national chairman. The question is, who are the leaders of the party? The party constitution is clear as to who the leaders of the party are. The leadership of the party has been the National Working Committee led by Barrister Julius Abure,” not surprisingly too, the party’s National Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, who supported the view of the Publicity Secretary, added that the “judgment was deliberately twisted to suit the narrative of the party’s detractors.”
Similarly too, the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Ayo Olorunfemi, mocked Abure’s critics, saying those seeking the downfall of his leadership were ‘outsiders’ pretending to be members of the party.
Olorunfemi also vowed that Abure wouldn’t step down until he finished his tenure in 2028.
“The people that are running about and spreading the false report that Abure was sacked; they should tell you where they belong in all of this. In their ward, they are not even known because they are not members. They came to support somebody that we accepted into the party, and they are being used by God knows who to scatter the process people are looking forward to for a new Nigeria.
“That is exactly the script they are playing. But importantly, they have failed. The NEC of this party makes decisions for the ratification of the national convention, and that is what the Supreme Court today has asked us to continue to do. When the NEC of this party speaks, the only body that can query that decision is the national convention.”
According to a source who spoke to our correspondent, “The Supreme Court judgment, which was meant to bring clarity and put an end to the controversy surrounding the Labour Party’s leadership tussle, appears to be its current albatross. In other words, what was meant to settle the internal crisis is what will now destroy the party.”
It remains to be seen if the leadership crisis in the Labour Party will be resolved as Nigeria draws closer to the 2027 election year, which is just around the corner.
