Federal High Court Sacks Julius Abure, Orders INEC to Recognise Nenadi Usman as Labour Party Leader

 

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday sacked Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

Delivering the judgement, Justice Peter Lifu relied on the April 4, 2025, Supreme Court verdict to declare former Finance Minister, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, as the lawful leader of the party.

The court consequently directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee as “the only valid authority to represent the Labour Party,” pending the party’s next national convention.

The judgement arose from a suit filed by Usman before the court, marked: THC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025, which cited Abure and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) as defendants.

Justice Lifu held that evidence presented showed that Abure’s tenure as national chairman had already expired. He dismissed Abure’s claim that the matter was an internal party affair, ruling instead that the establishment of the LP Caretaker Committee was “a necessity” in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive.

The court’s decision follows a leadership crisis that rocked the LP. The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) had previously removed Abure and constituted a 29-member Caretaker Committee, appointing Usman as its Chairman. The move was endorsed at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.

The meeting that resolved Abure’s removal was chaired by his former ally and the LP’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Following the decision, Abure approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to validate his position as National Chairman. In an affidavit filed in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024, he stated that he was lawfully elected Acting National Chairman on March 29, 2021, at a NEC meeting in Benin City, Edo State.

Abure claimed that during a NEC meeting in Asaba, Delta State, on April 18, 2023, the party renewed the tenures of state chairmen whose terms had expired and filled vacant positions created by expulsions of anti-party members.

He further asserted that, following a consensus reached at the NEC, the party held its National Convention on March 27, 2024, in Nnewi, Anambra State, where he was lawfully elected National Chairman. Under his leadership, the LP fielded governorship candidates in Edo and Ondo states.

While both the High Court and Court of Appeal initially upheld Abure’s position and ordered INEC to recognise him, the Supreme Court later nullified these decisions.

In its lead judgement prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by the Caretaker Committee’s Chairman and Secretary, Senator Usman and Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, respectively.

The Supreme Court also dismissed Abure’s cross-appeal, urging political parties to adhere strictly to their internal rules in appointing officers and imploring officials whose tenures have expired to vacate their positions.