The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, has declared that Julius Abure remains the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
A three-member panel of the appellate court in a judgment delivered by Justice Hamma Barka, on Friday, held that its verdict of November 13, 2024, which recognised Abure as national chairman subsisted and had not been set aside by any court.
Justice Barka made the declaration in the judgement of two separate appeals filed by Senator Esther Usman, the caretaker committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The appellate court held that it did not delve into the LP’s leadership issue because they are not justifiable.
The appellate court further held that anything done outside jurisdiction amounted to a nullity.
Hence, the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered on October 8, 2024, by Justice Emeka Nwite, is of no effect because it was delivered without jurisdiction and proceeded to strike it out.
While striking out the suit, the Appeal Court held that it relied on its previous judgement of November 13, 2014, which held that “Abure remained National Chairman of the LP.”
Justice Barka said, “We cannot say this appeal fails or succeeds because the lower court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit in the first place.”
The LP had been plunged into a leadership crisis shortly after the 2023 general elections.
The party’s National Executive Committee removed Abure and appointed a 29-member caretaker committee, with former finance minister Senator Esther Usman as chairperson and Darlington Nwokocha as secretary.
The decision followed an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
