The leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party excavated on Tuesday as factional National Chairman, Julius Abure, openly rejected the judgment of the Court of Appeal, vowing to challenge it at the Supreme Court.
Abure, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, dismissed the Court of Appeal ruling, which affirmed the leadership of Nenadi Usman, insisting it ran contrary to established legal principles and party procedures.
He maintained that party leadership issues remained an internal matter beyond the scope of judicial interference, adding that the court’s decision did not align with existing legal precedents.
“We have seen what transpired today at the Appeal Court, and we want to say very clearly that the judgment is not acceptable to all of us in the Labour Party, led by my humble self.
“I want to say very clearly that the judgment is against all known principles of law. The courts, the Supreme Court and all courts in Nigeria have stated very clearly that the issue of leadership of a political party is an internal affair of a political party.
“It is also not true, and I disagree when people say that the tenure of this executive has expired. That is untrue and very unacceptable to us,” he stated.
Earlier, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja unanimously dismissed Abure’s appeal, describing it as unconvincing and lacking legal foundation.
The court upheld the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, which had affirmed Usman’s leadership.
Abure insisted that the party’s convention in Nnewi on March 27, 2024, produced a valid leadership expected to run for four years.
According to him, the court failed to properly consider this in reaching its conclusion.
He said, “I want to say that the court today didn’t look at that before concluding that the tenure has expired. I must also say clearly that the Umuahia meeting, which produced the Caretaker Committee, was also against the Labour Party constitution.
“It is only the National Chairman and Secretary of a political party who have the power to convene any NEC meeting of any sort. Let me state clearly that we are going to appeal that decision.
“Today’s decision of the Appeal Court is not acceptable to us, and we reject it in its entirety. We have put our legal team together, and we are going to file an appeal and move to the Supreme Court.”
