A Court of Appeal on Friday reaffirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
Delivering a judgment on a suit between Labour Party and Chief Olusola Nehemiah Ebiseni and INEC (Respondents),Justice Hamma Akawu Barka disclosed that the court,in relying on an earlier judgment on 13 November, 2024, could not determine the leadership of the Labour Party having emanated from an incompetent suit as the trial Court lacked jurisdiction to have determined the leadership of the Labour Party.
The Court also decided that the two appeals heard today (1) Senator Esther Nenadi Usman & others V Labour Party & others (CA/ABJ/CA/1217//2024 (2) INEC V Labour Party (CA/Abj/CV/1232/2024) does not invalidate the earlier judgment.
A statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Obiora Ifoh,noted that “the Court therefore directed parties to the appeals and the general public to respect the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on the 13th of November, 2024 which affirmed Barrister Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
Last year,Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja declared Julius Abure as the substantive Chairman of the Labour Party.
In his verdict,Justice Nwite affirmed the Abure-led leadership and the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced the national leadership.
Justice Nwite further ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Abure as the legitimate chairman, overriding the Commission’s earlier stance that Abure’s leadership was invalid.
He said: “I am of the view that and so hold that the basis of these cogent verifiable documents, the defendants attempt to impeach the validity of the leadership of the plaintiff fails.
“The plaintiff has proved his case.I hereby make an order compelling the defendant to accord the plaintiff’s political party under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure all the rights and privileges accorded a political party duly registered in Nigeria.”
