Abuja, Nigeria
Julius Abure, the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP) has been sacked by the Supreme Court in a judgement delivered on Friday.
The apex court voided the ruling of the appeal court judgment that Abure remained the chair of the party, which was delivered in January 2025.
The apex court, led by a five-member panel of the apex court overturned the decision of the lower court and held that the appellate court lacked the jurisdiction to have declared Abure as LP national chairman.
The court held that the substance of the case, which was about the party’s leadership, was beyond the determination of the appeal court.
It held that the issue of leadership is an internal affair of a party over which courts lack jurisdiction.
According to the court, the appeal filed by Nenadi Usman from Kaduna South, acting national chairperson of the caretaker committee, and one other, was meritorious.
The court proceeded to dismiss Abure’s cross-appeal for lacking merit.
Caretaker Committee of LP
In September last year, the party appointed Usman to chair a 29-member caretaker committee after Alex Otti, governor of Abia state, convened a stakeholders meeting of the party in Umuahia.
The party’s presidential candidate in 2023, alongside his running mate, Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, were among the top chieftains who participated in the meeting.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also invalidated Abure’s leadership and said the national convention violated the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
