Labour Party Leadership: Abure’s Chairmanship is Upheld by the Court

Julius Abure is been officially recognized as the Labour Party’s substantive chairman by Federal High Court Abuja Judge Emeka Nwite.
Judge Nwite upheld the national leadership that was produced by the March 2024 Nnewi conference as well as the leadership led by Abure.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was further directed by Justice Nwite to acknowledge Abure as the lawful chairman, overturning the Commission’s previous position that Abure’s chairmanship was invalid.

He stated, “I am of the opinion that and thus hold that the defendants’ attempt to impeach the validity of the plaintiff’s leadership fails on the basis of these compelling verifiable documents.”

The claimant has established his case. I thus issue an order directing the defendant to grant the plaintiff’s political party, led by Barrister Julius Abure, all the rights and benefits associated with a legally recognized political party in Nigeria.

The Labour Party’s national convention, according to INEC, breached both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act, and the party had not complied with the legal prerequisites for organizing the convention.

Julius Abure’s term as the National Chairman of the Labour Party ended in June 2024, according to the electoral authority. The declaration came in response to a lawsuit brought by the Labour Party, which contested their omission from INEC’s refresher course for party agent uploading prior to the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

INEC claims that the Electoral Act and the Nigerian Constitution were broken by the Labour Party’s March 2024 National Convention, which resulted in Abure being reelected as chairman. Because of this, INEC said that the party’s leadership was illegitimate and that they only cooperated with organizations that had duly elected leaders.

Tanko Inuwa, SAN, the head of INEC’s legal team, stressed that the Labour Party must provide evidence in order for the declaratory reliefs requested in its complaint to be granted. INEC declared that the Labour Party no longer has legitimate leadership since the party did not fulfill the legal prerequisites to hold its national convention.