JONAS EZIEKE, Abuja
The Labour Party LP caucus in the House of Representatives has hailed the Supreme Court’s judgment, which removed Julius Abure from his position as national chairman of the party, contending that it is an elixir for LP’s stability and reinvention.
According to the caucus, this ruling serves as a warning to leaders who play ‘god’ in a democracy, where the people ought to hold the ultimate authority.
The leader of the caucus, Hon. Afam Victor Ogene, in a statement shortly after the Supreme Court pronouncement, described the development as a “veritable tonic for the revitalization of the party” that has been engulfed by leadership tussle in recent times. He thanked the apex court for the decisive judgment that has offered the party a new lease of life.
The apex court had set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which recognized Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, April 4, 2025 a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to pronounce Abure as the National Chairman of the LP, having earlier determined that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
Hon. Ogene stated that, following this clear-cut judgment, the Labour Party will hasten to implement necessary mechanisms to restore internal peace and get the party back on track, in order to reassure its teeming members of the party’s viability for future elections and its commitment to leadership that prioritizes the interests and welfare of the people. In fact, by next week, we expect the National Caretaker Committee, NCC led by respected former Minister of Finance, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, to convene an all-inclusive stakeholders meeting to chart the way forward.
The lawmaker emphasized that the party’s leadership crisis could have been prevented if the ousted chairman and his team had heeded the Caucus’ advice, or addressed the concerns of other stakeholders. These stakeholders, Ogene stated, had urged caution and greater sensitivity in managing the party’s affairs. But in a brazen display of arrogance and naked power-mongering, Abure had ignored these warnings, thus creating an environment for crisis to fester.
For instance, in March 2024, LP Reps called for the postponement of the National Convention of the party scheduled to take place by the end of that month, in order to allow for further consultations in the light of the party’s lingering leadership skirmishes.
The Caucus had emphasized at the time that the party’s health and sustainability were paramount, given its internal conflicts. And as direct representatives of the people, they felt the party needed time to resolve its leadership issues and operational problems before holding a potentially divisive convention.
But rather than heed that patriotic call, according to Hon.Ogene, the party leadership proceeded to unleash tirades against them, abusing them in the media and threatening that they would be denied the party tickets for re-election in 2027. That was not only insensitive but undemocratic and disrespectful to the caucus, whose only concern was the peace, unity, sustainability and progress of the party.
“It is this uncertainty of not being sure of getting a party ticket in the next general elections that has made the Caucus to lose as much as six members,” Hon. Ogene said.
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