The crisis in the labour party predates the aftermath of the 2023 general elections. In fact, long before 2022 when Peter Gregory Obi emerged as the party’s flag bearer in the election in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Professor Mahmood Yakubu leadership declared APC Bola Tinubu as winner, Labour Party had suffered leadership disputes and allegations of misconduct.
But soon after the elections, the crisis in the party took a bizarre turn when some members, led by Lamidi Apapa, accused the National Chairman, Julius Abure, of forgery and fraud.
The Lamidi faction went on to obtain a court order from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court restraining Abure from parading himself as the party’s chairman. It didn’t stop there as the faction took over control of the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
But Abure later contested the court ruling at the Appeal Court and won. To mediate in the crisis, the party’s flag bearer and its national leader, Obi requested that an audit of the party’s finances be conducted to put to rest the wild allegations of malfeasance hovering in the air and eroding people’s confidence in LP.
Within this period, Abure faced another backlash in Benin, Edo State, where he was arrested by the police for allegedly possessing firearms and being involved in forgery.
No sooner had he survived these onslaughts than the Nigeria Labour Congress picketed the party’s headquarters, demanding his resignation for allegedly planning a self-serving national convention that did not honour a pre-2023 peace accord entered into by stakeholders in the LP project. It was the political wing of the NLC otherwise considered as its political commission that leveled the accusation against Abure.
Whilst the commission, spearheading the picketing of LP headquarters under the watchful eyes and inspiration of NLC President, Joe Ajaero, accused Abure of financial recklessness and disrespect for the congress leadership, Abure remain unfaced.
Few days later, precisely in March 2024, he went ahead to hold a national convention at Nnewi, in Anambra State, where his sympathisers returned him as the national chairman of the party.
Without saying, the convention was held amid calls from such as Peter Obi and other party chieftains who demanded a hold in favour of wider consultation and stakeholder engagement.
But Abure, in defiance, pushed his way through, thereby doing more damage to the hurt already being endured by the party. The consequence of his defiance is captured in the words of Yunusa Tanko, spokesperson of LP campaign organisation in the general election, who said the national convention achieved the opposite of being an avenue to strengthen the party’s structure by mobilising members from ward level to local government, and up to the national level.
From the convention, all loyalists of Abure, who contested offices, were returned unopposed while only the offices reserved for the Trade Union congress (TUC) and the NLC were untouched by Abure’s team.
The expressed rejection of the congress was evident. The party’s presidential candidate, Obi, its only state governor, Alex Otti of Abia State, as well as federal legislators elected on its platform were all absent, signalling the beginning of an end for the Abure led National Working Committee (NWC) of LP, especially as INEC claimed not to have monitored the exercise.
In a manner of speaking, analysts said it was an exercise in futility meant to endorse a wouldbe emperor. In response to these actions by a few persons led by Abure, the party held a NEC/Extended Stakeholders meeting at Government House Umuahia following which it announced the composition of a 29-member Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman as Chairman and Senator Darlington Nwokocha as Secretary.
The committee’s mandate was to midwife an election of a new leadership of the party within 90 days. The terms of reference include ensuring the conduct of Ward, Local Government, State Congresses and National Convention as soon as possible and in accordance with the constitution of the party.
Amid this, in November 2024, Justice Hamma Barka in what Abuja based lawyer, Barr John Onyemachukwu, described as error in judgment, upheld Abure as the authentic national chairman of the LP.
According to Barr Onyemachukwu, “That was a landmark error in judgment. Issues of leadership of political parties are internal matters that are resolved by the party itself. It is not a decision for the court to deliver as to who is the chairman of a political party.
“Mind you, these parties have their constitution. And the constitution provides clear guidelines and processes as to how a principal officer of the party, even the chairman, is to emerge. “The same constitution, I am sure, outlines the modalities for resolving controversies that may emerge therein.”
The legal journey from the Federal High Court in Abuja to the Court of Appeal was eventually decided, Friday, by the Supreme Court which sacked the national chairman, Abure, insisting that the Appeal Court operated outside its jurisdiction.
In a unanimous decision, the five-member panel of the apex court ruled that the Appeals Court lacked jurisdiction to declare Abure chairman after determining that the case centered on the party’s leadership dispute.
The judgment also upheld the appeal filed by Senator Nenadi Usman and another appellants, deeming it meritorious.
The Supreme Court ruling therefore put paid to the controversy as to whether internal party affairs such as leadership issues should be resolved internally without judicial intervention, or externally with the help of the judiciary.
Reacting to the Supreme Court judgment, Senator Nenadi Usman, Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, described Abure`s removal as a victory for the rule of law and a significant milestone for the nation’s democracy.
She said LP remains steadfast in its mission to create a new Nigeria, adding that the recent ruling by the Apex Court, which allowed her appeal, declaring it meritorious, while dismissing the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the Labour Party as unmeritorious, is a victory for the rule of law and a significant milestone for our democracy.
“It is important to emphasize that this is not a time for triumphalism, there is no victor and no vanquished. What matters most is our shared commitment to the ideals and aspirations of the Labour Party and the Nigerian people. We must now come together, united in purpose and vision, to move the party forward.
“The Labour Party remains one indivisible family, steadfast in its mission to create a New Nigeria founded on justice, equity, and people-centered governance. “We call on all party members, supporters, and stakeholders to remain calm, focused, and committed to the democratic ideals that bind us.” (Daily Independent)
