The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday removed Julius Abure from his position as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
Justice Peter Lifu, delivering the judgement, relied on the April 4, 2025, Supreme Court verdict to declare former Minister of Finance, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, as the lawful leader of the party.
The court further 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,” until the party convenes a national convention.
The judgement followed a suit (THC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025) filed by Senator Usman. In addition to Abure, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was also cited as a defendant.
Justice Lifu held that Abure’s tenure as National Chairman had expired. While dismissing Abure’s claim that the matter was an internal party issue and non-justiciable, the court stated that the creation of the LP Caretaker Committee was “a necessity” arising from the Supreme Court’s directive.
The decision traces back to a leadership crisis within the LP, after which the National Executive Committee (NEC) removed Abure and formed a 29-member caretaker committee chaired by Senator Usman. The move followed an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Abia State Governor Alex Otti.
The meeting that led to Abure’s removal was chaired by his former ally and the party’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 (FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024), Abure claimed he was lawfully elected Acting National Chairman at an NEC meeting in Benin City on March 29, 2021. He added that the NEC, during its April 18, 2023 meeting in Asaba, Delta State, renewed the tenures of state chairmen, expelled anti-party members, and filled the resultant vacancies.
Abure further stated that at the party’s National Convention on March 27, 2024, in Nnewi, Anambra State, he was elected National Chairman and subsequently led the party to produce governorship candidates in Edo and Ondo states.
Although both the high court and the court of appeal previously upheld Abure’s claims and directed INEC to recognise him, the Supreme Court later overturned these decisions. In a 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.
The Supreme Court dismissed Abure’s cross-appeal and advised political parties to adhere to their own rules in appointing officers, while reminding officials whose tenures have expired to vacate their positions.
