The Labour Party (LP) has split into three factions, with each faction claiming leadership and structures of the party which came third in the 2023 general election.
The trio of Julius Abure, Senator Nenadi Usman, and Lamidi Apapa are claiming to be the national leaders of the party.
The situation has taken a critical dimension following the recent Supreme Court judgement that set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Abure as the party’s national chairman.
In a unanimous judgement last week delivered by a five-member panel, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure the national chairman of the LP, having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
After the judgement, the National Working Committee of the Labour Party (LP), believed to be loyal to Abure, said he remained the party’s national chairman despite the Supreme Court’s ruling.
At a press conference after the judgement, the party’s legal adviser, Kehinde Edun, said that the Supreme Court insisted that the lower courts should have declined jurisdiction and not made a pronouncement on a political party’s leadership.
He said: “The Supreme Court judgement didn’t sack LP National chairman, Abure; instead, it rightly upheld the preceding and accumulated high courts and appeal court judgements upholding the immutability of responsibility of the party structures to choose its leaders.
“The judgement did not also set aside the Appeal Court judgement in LP vs Ebiseni and two others, CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024, delivered on 13 November 2024, which affirmed Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party. The judgement is still valid and subsisting and has not been appealed.
“The implication is obvious: Abure remains the Labour Party national chairman. The question is, who are the leaders of the party? The Party constitution clearly states who the Party leaders are. The party was led by the National Working Committee led by Abure.
“The Party constitution also clearly states who can call for the National Convention or any National Meeting. Article 14 of the 2024 constitution, as amended, gives powers to the National Secretary of the Party “to issue notices of meetings of the National Convention, National Executive Councils, the National Working Committee, NWC, in consultation with and approval of the National Chairman.”
Also, the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, noted that the party’s leadership called the national convention on March 27, 2024, when the Party’s leaders emerged.
“The leadership of the Party is, therefore, satisfied with the judgement of the apex court, which goes to reaffirm Abure as the national chairman of the Party and the current NWC, as validly elected, having been duly nominated, endorsed, and ratified through the internal mechanism of the Party statutory organs in line with the party’s constitution.
“We are therefore calling on all actual party members to abide by the apex court’s judgement, always resort to internal party mechanisms in resolving party affairs, and not to rush to the court.
“Only the political parties can choose their leaders, not the courts. Everybody must learn to respect the decisions of the Party and its Constitution.
“The position of the Supreme Court is that the structures of the party are capable of handling any matters as they concern its affairs, and as it is today, the LP national chairman is, and remains, Abure,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lamidi Apapa on Wednesday declared himself the party’s leader at a press conference, citing the apex court’s recent judgement as his justification.
Apapa said all the court’s pronouncements had nullified all actions and decisions Abure had taken since April 2023.
In a statement signed by NLC deputy national chairman Mr Ladi Iliya, deputy national chairman of TUC Dr Ayo Olorunfemi, national secretary Umar Farouq Ibrahim, national legal adviser Barr Oyelekan Akingbade; national publicity secretary Dr Abayomi Arabambi, and national treasurer Mrs Oluchi Opara, Apapa said the party’s National Working Committee as of 2022 would meet the following Monday, April 14, 2025.
The statement read, “Following the dismissal of the cross-appeal filed by the ousted former national chairman Barr Julius Abure, also by the Supreme Court on 4th April 2025, what this means is that all actions and decisions taken by Julius Abure since 4th April 2023 are null and void.
“Following the decision of the Supreme Court on setting aside all judgements that recognise the leadership of Julius Abure as national chairman, I, Alh Bashiru Lamidi Apapa, the most senior deputy national, and in consonance with our party constitution, Article 14 2(a)(b), hereby take over the running of the affairs of our great party with effect from today, Wednesday, the 9th day of April 2025, in an acting capacity, and Alh Farouk Umar Ibrahim as national secretary.
“My leadership hereby calls on all members of the Labour Party that the National Working Committee of our party as of 2022 will meet next week, Monday, 14th April 2025, to announce our plans, which will include zoning the position of national chairman to the North and national secretary to the South,” Apapa said.
Similarly, on Wednesday, high-profiled leaders and members of LP stormed the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, demanding the recognition of Nenadi Usman as the party’s national chairman.
Led by the LP 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Abia State Governor Alex Otti, the party’s members were received by INEC national commissioner and acting chairman, Sam Olumekun who was holding forth for the INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who had travelled to the Gambia to attend the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) meeting
They LP delegation urged the electoral umpire to recognise Usman as the party chairman following the recent Supreme Court verdict that set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman.
In a unanimous judgement last week delivered by a five-member panel, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to pronounce Abure the LP national chairman, having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
The court allowed the appeal filed by Usman and one other. It held that it was meritorious before dismissing the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP for being unmeritorious.
Confirming the development on its X(Twitter) handle, the commission said: “A high-level delegation of the Labour Party (LP), led by Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti, on Wednesday visited the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja to discuss key developments within the party.
“During the visit, Governor Otti formally presented a Certified True Copy of the recent Supreme Court judgement concerning the party’s leadership. He noted that the meeting aimed to foster clarity, mutual understanding, and institutional alignment regarding the LP’s current structure.”
It said the commission reaffirmed its commitment to neutrality, transparency, and the rule of law in discharging its constitutional responsibilities.
Subsequently, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) called on workers, LP members, and other pro-democracy advocates to prepare for a nationwide reclamation of the party’s offices following a Supreme Court ruling invalidating Abure’s leadership of the party.
In a statement, NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero condemned Abure’s refusal to comply with the Supreme Court’s April 4, 2025, judgement, which declared his tenure as LP National Chairman expired and his National Working Committee (NWC) legally unrecognised.
According to Ajaero, the court’s decision aligned with the NLC’s longstanding contention that Abure’s leadership had exceeded constitutional limits.
Ajaero accused Abure and his allies of “reckless assault against the rule of law” for dismissing the verdict, warning that their actions risked reducing Nigeria to a “banana republic.”
The labour leader stressed that the NLC would no longer tolerate “impunity and disdain for constitutional order,” urging supporters to prepare for peaceful efforts to repossess LP offices under directives from the NLC Political Commission.
Ajaero further cautioned security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and State Security Service, to enforce the court’s ruling and not follow it to undermine Nigeria’s legal integrity.
The NLC also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expunge all references to Abure’s faction from its records and urged surviving LP National Executive Committee (NEC) members to appoint interim leadership.
The statement reads in part: “While every right-thinking Nigerian expected Mr Julius Abure and the few desperadoes around him to accept the Supreme Court judgement that affirmed what the NLC has been saying for a long time about the expiration of his purported tenure as Labour Party Chairman, they have taken steps to hold the judgment of the Supreme Court in grave contempt.
In the process of their reckless assault against the grain of constitutionality and the rule of law, they have falsely claimed that the Nigeria Labour Congress has planned to stage an attack against Labour Party offices”.
“We urge every worker in Nigeria, all genuine members of the Labour Party and all lovers of democracy to be on standby to once again peacefully repossess all offices of the Labour Party nationwide. The leadership of the NLC Political Commission and other concerned Labour Party stakeholders will be issuing the necessary directives to this effect.
To resolve the leadership vacuum in the Labour Party, the surviving institutional members of the LP National Executive Committee (NEC) are expected to appoint interim leadership, which will conduct an inclusive Special National Convention for the party by the provisions of the LP Constitution and the consent judgement.
“Any step outside these constitutional procedures will be an affront to the rule of law and tantamount to an unmitigable assault on constitutional rule. Nigerian workers and people will stoutly resist such mischief”.
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