By John Umeh
The leadership crisis within the Labour Party has intensified following a Court of Appeal judgment affirming Nenadi Usman as the party’s leader, a decision factional National Chairman Julius Abure has vowed to challenge at the Supreme Court.
Abure, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, rejected the ruling, describing it as flawed and inconsistent with established legal principles and the party’s constitution. He insisted that leadership disputes within political parties are internal matters that courts should not interfere with.
Reacting to the judgment, Abure said the decision was unacceptable to his faction and maintained that his leadership remains valid.
“We have seen what transpired at the Appeal Court, and we want to state clearly that the judgment is not acceptable to us in the Labour Party. The ruling goes against known legal principles. Courts in Nigeria, including the Supreme Court, have repeatedly held that party leadership is an internal affair,” he said.
He also dismissed claims that the tenure of his executive had expired, describing such assertions as inaccurate and unacceptable.
Earlier, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja unanimously dismissed Abure’s appeal, ruling that it lacked merit. The appellate court upheld an earlier Federal High Court decision that recognised Usman’s leadership of the party.
Abure, however, argued that the party’s national convention held in Nnewi on March 27, 2024, produced a legitimate leadership expected to serve a four-year term, a position he said the court failed to adequately consider.
He also criticised the Umuahia meeting that produced the National Caretaker Committee, describing it as unconstitutional. According to him, only the National Chairman and Secretary have the authority to convene a National Executive Committee meeting.
“Today’s decision is unacceptable to us, and we reject it entirely. Our legal team has been briefed, and we will proceed to the Supreme Court,” Abure stated.
The ruling represents a major setback for Abure’s faction, as recent legal and political developments have increasingly favoured the Usman-led camp.
The leadership tussle took a significant turn earlier when the Independent National Electoral Commission recognised the Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the party’s authentic leadership, following a Federal High Court directive.
INEC subsequently updated its official records, replacing Abure’s name with that of Usman as Acting National Chairman, further deepening the internal crisis that has plagued the party since the 2023 general elections.
