Court vacates order restraining Abure, others from functioning as Labour Party executives

State High Court sitting in Edo has dismissed the notice of suspension issued against the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, by some party members at the ward level.

The presiding judge, Justice Emmanuel Aihamoje, Friday, threw out the case for lacking merit.

Confirming the development, the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement, issued in Abuja, Friday, also disclosed that the action was filed by Abure and the executives of LP Ward 3 in Esan North East of Edo State.

In his judgement, which lasted for nearly two hours, Aihamoje judged that the party ward executive in Uromi in ward 3 lacked the power under the Labour Party Constitution, particularly Act 13 & 17 and the Electoral Act 2022, as amended to remove the national chairman of the party.

The judge in Suit No: HUC/21/2023 therefore went ahead to impose perpetual injunction against Lamidi Apapa and his faction from removing or suspending Abure as the national chairman until a new national convention of the party is convened.

Aihamoje further stated that the purported wards 3 executive who suspended the national chairman of the party acted outside the powers vested on it by the Labour Party Constitution.

Reacting to the ruling, LP Ward 3 Chairman, Thompson Ehiguese, told journalists at the court premises that the judgement has put an end to impostors who are masquerading as members of the labour party in the ward.

“These charlatans claiming to be members of our party are from Edo North and members of APC. I want to use this medium to congratulate the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement that stood firmly with Comrade Julius Abure while the sponsored crisis in our great party lasted.

“The judgement is explicitly clear that Barrister Julius Abure remains the national Chairman until the party convention holds next year. Nothing can change our collective resolve to reclaim Nigerian masses’ mandate freely given to Mr Peter Obi and the party in the last presidential election,” Aihamoje said.

On his part, Edo State Labour Party Chairman, Kelly Ogbaloi, affirmed that Labour party has been vindicated, adding that the court has confirmed Apapa and his faction are ‘tragic power seekers.’

“Apapa, who before then was a deputy national chairman and a custodian of the constitution of the party, knew that the act of those who came to Abuja to announce the suspension of the national chairman was not doing so legally, since the action was an aberration to the provisions of the party’s constitution, instead, he ran to the court, seeking ex-parte motion to restrain the national chairman.

“Today they have been basically told that the charade can no longer be entertained by the court”, he said.

When contacted, the spokesman for Lamidi Apapa-led faction, Abayomi Arabambi, disclosed that he was planning to address a press conference to address the ruling.

It would be recalled that since April, 2023, the Labour Party has been embroiled by an internal leadership crisis between two factions led by Lamidi Apapa which claims a court injunction had conferred on it the status of authenticity, as against the much popular and mainstream leadership headed by the now suspended National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.

Presiding Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) State High Court, Justice J. Muazu had granted an ex-parte order to a faction of the Labour Party led by Lamidi Apapa restraining Julius Abure and three other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party from functioning as party executive officers henceforth.

This followed a resolution announced by some members of the Ward of the party in Edo State who had suspended Abure from the party.

However, while Abure and others obtained an order from the Edo State High Court on April 5 setting aside the decision by that same party Ward executive committee (Ward 3, Arue Uromi) suspending Barrister Julius Abure as the National Chairman of Labour Party.

However, Justice Muazu had proceeded to grant the Apapa faction an ex parte, which the latter exercised to launch itself into prominence by self-installing the faction as the recognised NWC of the Labpour Party.

At its resumed sitting on May 12, the presiding judge, Justice Hamza Muazu ruled to proceed with hearing the substantive suit filed by the Apapa faction on which it had earlier granted them the ex parte order a decision, which the mainstream LP group kicked against.

The decision by Justice Muazu prompted the Abure faction to file an appeal, as, according to them, ‘we are appealing the ruling immediately because we know we will not get justice from the court.’

On Wednesday, May17, the objection filed by Abure was entered at the Court of Appeal with suit No. CA/ABJ/CV/559/2023, accompanied by an Appellant Brief of Argument which has been served on the trail courts.

The action forced the FCT State High Court of Justice Muazu at its resumed hearing date to rule suspending further hearing pending determination of the matter by the Court of Appeal, which by implication, vacates the ex parte order restraining Abure from functioning as National Chairman of the Labour Party, and ends the existence of the Apapa faction of the party.