The supreme court has sacked Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the LP having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
he court ruled that issues of leadership are internal affairs of a political party over which courts lack jurisdiction and noted that Abure’s tenure had since expired.
The court allowed the appeal filed by Nenadi Usman, a former senator representing Kaduna south, and one other, and held that it was meritorious.
It then proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP for lacking merit.
Recall that in February, Oluchi Oparah, the party’s national treasurer, accused Abure of misappropriating N3.5 billion, a claim the LP chairman denied while threatening legal action.
The allegation led to calls from party members for Abure’s removal.
In April 2023, the FCT high court issued an order restraining Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the LP.
Ruling on an ex parte application, Hamza Muazu, the presiding judge, also restrained Farouk Ibrahim, national secretary; Clement Ojukwu, national organising secretary; and Opara; from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
On September 4, Usman was appointed to chair a 29-member caretaker committee after Alex Otti, governor of Abia state, convened a stakeholders meeting of the party in Umuahia.
Peter Obi, LP presidential candidate in 2023, and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate, were among the top party members who attended the meeting.
INEC had also invalidated Abure’s leadership, saying the national convention violated the constitution and Electoral Act.
The electoral body said the party failed to meet legal requirements for holding the convention, insisting that Abure’s tenure as LP national chair expired in June 2024.
But in a judgment on October 8, the federal high court affirmed the Abure-led leadership and the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced the party executives.
Emeka Nwite, presiding judge, ordered INEC to recognise Abure as the legitimate chairman of the party.
