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….Says INEC is obligated to respect Nasarawa High Court order on Abure leadership
The leadership crises in the Labour Party is far from over, as the Abure led group, dismissed claims by the Nenadi Usman led Caretaker Committee that the counter affidavit by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, means the end of Abure’s leadership.
Obiora Ifoh, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, in a statement on Saturday, said rather, Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in 2023 and the sole Governor, Alex Otti ” are the greatest losers”
It will be recalled that INEC had in the counter affidavit deposed to by Ayuba Mohammed, Executive Officer (Litigation and Prosecution), INEC stated that the tenure of Julius Abure as National Chairman of LP, with its entire Executive committee, expired as clearly stated in the Supreme Court judgement of April 4, 2025.
The Commission further affirmed that ” it neither monitored nor recognised the purported National Convention held in Nnewi on 27 March 2024, having found it to be in flagrant breach of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s own Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, and the Labour Party Constitution.”
Mohammed deposed that: “The defendant (INEC) cannot accept and issue access code for upload of candidates nomination forms EC9, EC9f and EC 9g for the bye-election scheduled for 16/8/2025 to plaintiff (Abure-led LP) as there were no valid National Chairman and National Secretary for defendants to deal with as provided in exhibit INEC 2.”
On the issue of the Nnewi Convention purportedly held by Abure, INEC affirmed that it neither monitored nor recognized the controversial March 27, 2024 “National Convention” in Nnewi, Anambra State, where Abure claimed he was re-elected.
The Commission described the entire exercise as being “conducted in breach of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s own guidelines, and the Labour Party’s constitution.”
INEC also referenced the Supreme Court’s April 4, 2025 judgment (Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025), which struck out the suit underpinning Abure’s claims for lack of jurisdiction, effectively nullifying all prior rulings that had purportedly affirmed his leadership
But in the statement on Saturday , the Abure led group said they are ” surprised at the report in some sections of the media where Nenadi Usman and her quislings are busy misinforming members of the public and jubilating that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has withdrawn recognition from Barrister Julius Abure, hinging their media propaganda on the Federal High Court’s decisions of yesterday, August 15, 2025.”
The statement revealed that two cases concerning Labour Party were decided and dismissed same day, by the same court.
“One by Nenadi Usman through one Chris Omofuma, her purported candidate in the Edo bye-election and of course, the one filed by Labour Party through Barrister Julius Abure.
” While INEC for obvious reasons refused to put up any counter against Nenadi’s camp, it however, deposed to a counter affidavit in opposition to Abure’s suit, on the premise that it neither monitored nor recognised the March 27, 2024, convention in Nnewi, and that Abure’s tenure, along with that of the National Executive Committee, according to their illusions, expired in June 2024.
According to the statement, ” The court wasted no time in dismissing the suit by Ms Nenadi Usman through Chris Omofume on the ground that both Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwokocha were not National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, of the party and therefore are not competent to nominate candidate for the bye-election.”
Ifoh noted that the court while dismissing the suit by Abure and Labour Party held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, noting that the Supreme Court had, in its April 4, 2025, decision in Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025, ruled on the supremacy of the party and its ability to resolve its internal affairs using the party’s internal mechanism”
He stated that the Supreme Court did not make any express ruling on the Abure leadership
The group also noted that those issues in the counter affidavit have been raised before and have been resolved against INEC.
“Even the Federal High Court yesterday did not accept their counter-affidavit, reason it refused to grant Nenadi’s request that her candidate be recognized to participate in the bye-election.
“In any event, the Supreme Court never said that Abure was not the National Chairman of the Labour Party nor made pronouncement on the Convention.
“They only said that issues of leadership is an internal affairs of the party. It is also clear that the Abure led leadership is the party here and that is what the apex court referred to.
“Disappointed by the judgement of the Court, Nenadi Usman and her power mongering renegades went to town publishing INEC’s counter-affidavit which the court never relied on. For us, their celebration was laughable and a smokescreen meant to mislead members of the public. They know that they have nothing to really celebrate.
“They forgot so soon that that INEC’s so called counter-affidavit has been tested in various courts, up to the Supreme Court and has not been accepted. The INEC counter affidavit is clearly what the commission has been portraying all through in the courts since the beginning of their unlawful exclusion of our leadership.
“They tendered it before Justice Omotosho and it was rejected, INEC also said so in Justice Nwite’s court and the Judge ruled against them. They said so in the court of Appeal, the court also ruled against them. Even the Supreme Court ruled against them.
He stated that is was “therefore infantile for Nenadi to be circulating the same counter-affidavit as if it were a new document.”
He vowed that their celebration, ” to us amounts to nothing”
“Are they not playing into the hands of the opposition? Who benefits from all of this saga? Who is the loser? Are Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti not actually the losers in all of these? Are they celebrating because they want the party to die. A party that gave them hope when they didn’t have any hope, a party that gave them the platform when they were frustrated by other political parties.”
The Party called on INEC not to ignore the order by His Lordship, Justice Mustapha A. Ramat of the Nasarawa state division delivered on July 23, 2025 in a SUIT NO. NSD/LF.84/2024
“In an interlocutory order directing INEC to accord exclusive recognition to Abure and Umar Farouk Ibrahim as the authentic leadership of the Labour Party. The court also ordered that INEC must respect every decision arising from the leadership pending when the case before it is rested.
“We urge INEC not to disobey a lawful order of the Court. INEC must be informed of hushed comments of what appears to be a desperate and obvious collaborative efforts between it and some renegades in the Labour Party to undo the party and to preclude it from participating in future democratic process.
“We want to believe that if there is any element of truth in it, Nigerians must rise and defend this democracy”
