Labour Party hails Supreme Court judgment, says Abure’s leadership valid

The Labour Party has hailed the Supreme Court judgement on the leadership of the party.

It described the judgement as a major victory after the Supreme Court upheld Julius Abure as its national chairman.

In a landmark judgement delivered on Friday, April 4, 2025, the apex court declared that the leadership of a political party is an internal affair that courts should not interfere with.

In a statement, Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, noted that the Supreme Court’s position is clear: the structures of the party are capable of handling its internal affairs, and Julius Abure remains the Labour Party’s National Chairman.

This ruling effectively struck out Senator Nenadi Usman’s appeal at the Appeal Court and the Labour Party suit at the trial court.

The court’s decision reaffirms the preceding and accumulated high courts and appeal court judgments that uphold the Labour Party’s structures to choose its leaders.

Notably, the Appeal Court judgement in Labour Party vs Ebiseni and 2 others, delivered on November 13, 2024, had already affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

“The Supreme Court’s judgement did not sack Labour Party national chairman Barrister Julius Abure, but rather upheld the immutability of the party’s structures to choose its leaders. The court insisted that the lower courts should have declined jurisdiction and not made pronouncements on the leadership of a political party.

“The Labour Party has welcomed the judgement, emphasizing that it validates the party’s constitution and the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure. According to the party’s constitution, the National Working Committee led by Barrister Julius Abure is the recognized leadership of the party. Article 14 of the 2024 constitution as amended gives the National Secretary the power to issue notices of meetings of the national convention, national executive council, and the national working committee in consultation with and approval of the National Chairman.

“The National Convention of the party was called by the leadership of the party on March 27, 2024, where the leaders of the party emerged. The report of the National Convention is already with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the leadership is recognized by INEC.”

The party has called on its members to respect the judgement and resolve party affairs internally, rather than rushing to court.

The party has also dismissed claims that the Supreme Court’s judgement sacked Barrister Julius Abure as the national chairman, describing such claims as mischievous and misleading.