A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has voided Julius Abure’s claim to the office of National Chairman of the Labour Party, declaring former Minister of Finance, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, as the party’s valid leader.
Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, relied on the April 4, 2025 decision of the Supreme Court to hold that Abure’s tenure had expired and that the leadership of the party now rests with the caretaker committee headed by Usman.
The court subsequently ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately recognise the Usman-led Caretaker Committee as the only lawful authority to represent the Labour Party, pending the conduct of a national convention.
The judgment was delivered in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025, filed by Usman, with Abure and the Nigerian Labour Congress listed as defendants.
Justice Lifu rejected Abure’s argument that the dispute was an internal party affair beyond judicial scrutiny, holding instead that the intervention of the court was necessary in view of the directive of the Supreme Court.
The judge ruled that the establishment of the caretaker committee was a necessity arising from the apex court’s decision and found that Abure no longer had a valid mandate to act as national chairman of the party.
The leadership dispute followed a crisis within the Labour Party, after which the party’s National Executive Committee resolved to remove Abure from office. To fill the leadership vacuum, a 29-member caretaker committee was constituted, with Usman appointed as chairman.
The decision emerged from an expanded stakeholders’ meeting of the party held in Umuahia, Abia State, and hosted by Governor Alex Otti. The meeting was chaired by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, a former ally of Abure.
Dissatisfied with his removal, Abure approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking judicial validation of his position as national chairman. In an affidavit supporting his suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024, he claimed that he was lawfully elected acting national chairman at a National Executive Council meeting held in Benin City on March 29, 2021, following the death of the party’s former chairman.
Abure further told the court that at a NEC meeting held in Asaba, Delta State, on April 18, 2023, and monitored by INEC, the party resolved to renew the tenures of state chairmen whose terms had expired and to expel members accused of anti-party activities.
He also contended that the party subsequently held a national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State, on March 27, 2024, where he was elected national chairman, adding that the party under his leadership produced candidates for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
While the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal initially upheld Abure’s claims and ordered INEC to recognise him, the Supreme Court overturned the concurrent decisions of the two lower courts.
In a lead judgment prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court allowed the appeal filed by Usman and the secretary of the caretaker committee, Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, and dismissed Abure’s cross-appeal.
The Supreme Court further admonished political parties to adhere strictly to their constitutions in the appointment of officers and urged party officials whose tenures have elapsed to vacate their positions in line with party rules.
