August 27, (THEWILL) – The Labour Party (LP) is currently enmeshed in a leadership crisis, with two persons claiming and being confirmed as the party’s National Chairman by a court of the same competent jurisdiction, Court of Appeal, Benin City and Court of Appeal, Owerri.
The confusion over the leadership of the party continued last Thursday as the Court of Appeal in Owerri, co-sitting in Abuja, removed Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman. The court, consequently, recognised Lamidi Apapa as national chairman and the one Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should deal with, in terms of candidates of the party for the coming Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections.
The court also ordered INEC to immediately recognise and publish the names of candidates produced by the Apapa-led National Working Committee in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi States for the governorship elections coming up in November.
The court further annulled the candidature of Senator Athan Achonu for the governorship of Imo State and others produced for other states by the Abure-led faction.
In April, Apapa had said his suspension as a member of the party was invalid and that he remained the ‘legitimate acting chairman.’
THEWILL recalls that there was also a judgment by the Court of Appeal in Benin City on August 14, which affirmed Abure as national chairman.
In the case of Mr. Lucky Shaibu v. Julius Abure & 5 ORS (Appeal No: CA/B/93/2023), Justice Theresa Ngolika Orji-Abadua JCA, Fatima Omoro Akinbami JCA and Justice Sybil O. Nwaka-Gbagi JCA in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal of the appellant.
One Lucky Shauibu who claimed to be a member of the Labour Party in Ward 3 Executive in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State suspended the chairman of the Labour Party.
In her lead judgment, Justice Orji-Abadua JCA, affirmed the decision of the High Court of Edo State and held that one man cannot suspend the national chairman of Labour Party in line with Article 13 and 17 of the Constitution of the Party and the extant Electoral Act of 2022, particularly when the appellant has been described by the party as unknown.
The court unanimously nullified the earlier suspension and all actions taken against Comrade Julius Abure and the party arising from the purported suspension.
In a swift reaction to the judgment, Comrade Julius Abure praised the judgment and the team of judges who refused to close their eyes to the justice of the case. He also thanked the team of selfless lawyers led by GC Igbokwe, SAN.
Also, the State High Court in Edo had dismissed the notice of suspension of Abure by some LP members at his ward in Edo State.
However, while reacting to these judgements, the Lamidi Apapa faction maintained that the ruling on the Imo governorship primary invalidated all off-season governorship primary elections conducted by the Abure faction.
Apapa insisted that the Federal High Court order restraining Abure from parading himself as LP chairman is yet to be vacated.
He said the Court of Appeal judgment in Benin City, which affirmed Abure as national chairman, was a civil matter.
Apapa said: “The Edo state issue, more or less, has to do with civil matters. The exco in the state suspended him and they went to court because of that. They don’t have the right to suspend him. I’m talking about ward level.
“But the FCT restraining order has to do with criminal matters. It is between the state and Abure. Nobody is above the law. That’s the difference between a civil matter and a criminal matter.
“The order of the FCT has not been vacated and that is why on the basis of that, the Appeal Court reaffirmed that by the time he conducted his primary, a restraining order was in place. Up till today, the order is still in force. That’s the difference between the two.”
Apapa said he was ready for reconciliation, saying that the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, acted against the judgment of the court during the party’s mega rally in Edo State.
He said: “From the look of things, you will also agree with me that the day before yesterday, our principal and Abure went to Owerri, despite the court order against them, that Ikenga was the right person for Imo State.
“He went ahead and raised somebody’s hands; somebody that had been asked not to go ahead by the judgment of Imo State. Today, it has also been reaffirmed by the Appeal Court. I don’t know what he will do again, whether he will reaffirm that again.
“What I want everybody to know is that nobody is above the law. Anybody who is above the law should not be in politics because it is a creation of law. A situation where you are disobeying the law that provides you the authority, then you are not supposed to lead the people. So, like I said, we are ready for reconciliation but not at our expense.”
But the Abure-led faction of Labour Party made a different interpretation of the Thursday judgement through its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh who said the Court of Appeal Co sitting in Abuja Thursday, August 24, 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by one Mr. Basil Maduka, who is contending for the Labour Party governorship candidate in Imo state.
“The court further held that the appeal by the Labour Party was not necessary as the decision of the trial court was in its favour and that mere comment of the trial judge in the matter was not a Judgement and should be discountenanced.
“Labour Party had asked the Court of Appeal to quash the comments of the trial court in the Federal High Court Owerri. The Labour party also told the court that Senator Athan Achonu won the party’s primary.
“The attention seeking camp of Lamidi Apapa had earlier today as usual misinformed the public by twisting the clear judgement of the appellate court.
“It is therefore important to state that neither the Federal High Court Owerri nor the Court of Appeal Owerri, which sat in Abuja today made any orders in the matter other than for lack of locus standi against the plaintiff (Basil Maduka).
“Consequently, the status quo remains with Senator Athan Achonu as the validly nominated candidate of Labour Party for 2023 Imo governorship election.
“With this Court of Appeal judgment and the endorsement of Senator Achonu by our national leader, Peter Obi, Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, the Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure and other stakeholders and party members, the dust has settled on the governorship ticket issue.
“Achonu has received the governorship flag of the party and has since flagged off his campaign with a well attended ceremony in Owerri on Tuesday.
“Recall that similarly, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City recently affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
“In the case of Mr. Lucky Shaibu v. Julius Abure & 5 ORS (Appeal No: CA/B/93/2023), His Lordships Justice Orji-Abadua, Fatima Omoro Akinbami and Hon. Justice Sybil O. Nwaka-Gbagi in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal of the Appellant.
“In her lead judgment, Justice Orji-Abadua, while nullifying the earlier suspension and all actions taken against Abure and the party arising from the purported suspension, affirmed the decision of the High Court of Edo State and held that one man cannot suspend the national chairman of Labour Party in line with Article 13 and 17 of the Constitution of the Party and the extant Electoral Act of 2022 particularly when the appellant has been described by the party as unknown.
“We are therefore calling on the Labour Party members, Obidient faithfuls and the general public to distance themselves from these falling and compromised members of the party who have since been shoved out of the party.”
