The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared Julius Abure as the legitimate national chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, Justice Emeka Nwite affirmed Abure’s leadership and upheld the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced the current party executives.
The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Abure as the authentic chair of the party, dismissing INEC’s earlier decision to invalidate his leadership.
“I am of the view and so hold that the basis of these cogent verifiable documents, the defendant’s attempt to impeach the validity of the leadership of the plaintiff fails,” Justice Nwite stated in his ruling.
The judge further ordered that all the rights and privileges accorded to a duly registered political party in Nigeria be granted to the Labour Party under Abure’s leadership.
INEC had previously nullified Abure’s leadership, citing that the Labour Party’s national convention violated the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The commission argued that Abure’s term as chair expired in June 2024 and pointed out that the party did not meet the legal requirements for holding the convention.
Following this, a stakeholders meeting convened by Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, led to the appointment of Nenadi Usman, a former senator, to head a 29-member caretaker committee.
Top Labour Party figures, including the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, attended the stakeholders’ meeting.
