The leadership tussle within the Labour Party has escalated further, with Julius Abure rejecting the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal and announcing plans to challenge the decision at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The development follows a ruling by the Appeal Court in Abuja, which dismissed Abure’s suit and affirmed an earlier judgment removing him as the party’s national chairman.
The court also upheld the recognition of Nenadi Usman as the legitimate leader of the party.
The dispute stems from an earlier verdict delivered by the Federal High Court, which relied on a prior Supreme Court decision that invalidated the process leading to Abure’s emergence as chairman.
The courts held that his tenure had lapsed and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to engage with Usman’s leadership.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Abure maintained that both he and his supporters reject the ruling, insisting that the party’s 2024 convention remains valid and continues to legitimise his position as chairman.
He subsequently directed his legal team to file an appeal at the Supreme Court in a renewed effort to overturn the judgment.
“We have seen what transpired today at the Appeal Court and we want to say very clearly that the judgement is not acceptable to all of us in the Labour Party led by my humble self.
“I want to say very clearly that the judgement is against all known principles of law. The courts, the Supreme Court and all courts in Nigeria have stated very clearly that the issues of leadership of a political party is an internal affair of a political party.
“It is also not true and I disagree when people say that the tenure of this executive has expired. That is untrue and very unacceptable to us. Nigerians will recall that on the 27th of March 2024, we had a valid convention that was held in Nnewi and that convention is still valid and subsisting for four years. I want to say that the court today didn’t look at that before arriving at the conclusion that the tenure has expired.
“I must also say clearly that the Umuahia meeting which produced the Caretaker Committee was also against the Labour Party constitution. It is only the National Chairman and National Secretary of a political party who has the power to convene any NEC meeting of any sort.
“I want to say very clearly that we are going to appeal that decision. Today’s decision of the Appeal Court is not acceptable to us and we reject it in its entirety. We have put our legal team together and we are going to file an appeal and move to the Supreme Court,” the statement read.
