The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a landmark ruling that nullified the recognition of Barrister Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), effectively ending a prolonged legal battle over the party’s leadership.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the apex court overturned the January 17, 2024 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had previously upheld Abure’s position. The Supreme Court held that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to decide on matters relating to the internal affairs of a political party, emphasizing that such issues are non-justiciable.
The apex court ruled in favor of an appeal filed by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, a former Minister of Finance, and Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, who are the Chairman and Secretary, respectively, of a 29-member Caretaker Committee earlier appointed by the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to pilot the party’s affairs.
The crisis within the Labour Party reached a peak after the NEC, during an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Abia State Governor Alex Otti and chaired by LP presidential candidate Peter Obi, resolved to remove Abure from office. The committee headed by Senator Usman was constituted to fill the resulting leadership vacuum.
Abure, however, rejected the NEC’s decision and proceeded to the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking judicial validation of his leadership. In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024, Abure claimed he was duly elected as Acting National Chairman during a NEC meeting in Benin City on March 29, 2021, and later confirmed as substantive Chairman at a national convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State on March 27, 2024.
He argued that his leadership was recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), citing invitations issued to him alongside 18 other party chairmen for pre-election activities in Edo and Ondo states.
On October 8, 2024, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court ruled in Abure’s favour and ordered INEC to recognize him as the party’s authentic leader. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal before being overturned by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The apex court’s verdict reaffirms the autonomy of political parties in resolving internal disputes, underscoring that courts should not interfere in leadership matters unless constitutional violations or breaches of public law are established.
With this ruling, the leadership of the Labour Party now rests in the hands of the caretaker committee led by Senator Usman, restoring the NEC-backed structure and reshaping the party’s direction ahead of upcoming elections.
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