Appeal court lacked jurisdiction to enter any pronouncement in favour of Abure – S/Court

Stories by Vivian Okejeme

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Appeal Court overstepped its bounds by making pronouncements in favor of Labour Party (LP) National Chairman, Julius Abure, as the dispute revolves around the party’s leadership, an area where the Appeal Court lacks jurisdiction.

In a unanimous decision on Friday, a five-man panel of the apex court vacated the January 17 judgement of Court of Appeal in Abuja, which validated Abure’s continued stay in office as National Chairman of the party.

The Court held that the substance of the case centered on the domestic affair of a political party which no court has the powers to meddle into.

Therefore, It allowed an appeal that was filed by a former Minister of Finance, Sen. Esther Nenadi Usman and Mr. Darlington Nwokocha, who are the Chairman and Secretary, respectively, of a Caretaker Committee that was earlier appointed to pilot the affairs of the party.

Following a leadership crisis that rocked the LP, the National Executive Committee(NEC), of the party resolved to remove Abure as the National Chairman.

To address the leadership vacuum, the party established a 29-member caretaker committee, with Nenadi as Chairman and Nwokocha as Secretary, tasked with overseeing the party’s affairs and facilitating the election of new leadership within 90 days.

The decision was reached following an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted by Abia State Governor Alex Otti in Umuahia, where key party stakeholders gathered to discuss and resolve crucial matters.

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate and former ally of Julius Abure, chaired the meeting that led to Abure’s removal from office.

Dissatisfied with his removal, he approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to validate his position as the National Chairman of the party.

In an affidavit he personally deposed to in support of the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1271/2024, Abure told the court that following the death of the National Chairman of the LP, he was lawfully elected as the Acting National Chairman of the party at a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the party that held in Benin City, Edo State, on March 29, 2021.

He informed the court that during the NEC meeting held in Asaba, Delta State on April 18, 2023, which was monitored by INEC, the party resolved to renew the tenures of State Chairmen whose terms had expired.

Abure said that during the same meeting, members involved in anti-party activities were expelled, and new appointments were made to fill the resulting vacancies.

He stated that, following a consensus reached at the meeting, the Labour Party held its National Convention on March 27, 2024, in Nnewi, Anambra State, where he was lawfully elected as the National Chairman of the party.

He said the party under his leadership produced candidates for governorship elections in both Edo and Ondo states.

According to the plaintiff, on June 28, 2024, he and 18 other National Chairmen of political parties received a Notice for Inspection of Sensitive Election Materials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the Ondo and Edo state governorship polls.

Abure, however, lamented that he did not receive a crucial notice from INEC, which instructed political parties to nominate two IT personnel for training on uploading data to INEC’s portal for the Ondo state gubernatorial election.

Abure told the court that he became aware of the existence of the said notice of the training by INEC, on August 21, 2024, due to the fact that he is a member of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee(IPAC).

He urged the court to step in and compel INEC to recognize him as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

On October 8, 2024, Justice Emeka Nwite delivered his judgment, ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Abure, after finding merit in his case.

Justice Nwite ordered INEC grant the LP under Abure’s leadership, all the rights and privileges accorded a political party duly registered in the country.

The court also ordered INEC to carry out its lawful duty by providing refresher training on uploading Labour Party agents’ information to the INEC portal and issuing Julius Abure the necessary Access Code to access the portal for the Ondo Governorship Election held on November 16, 2024.

Justice Nwite held: “I am of the view that and so hold that on the basis of these cogent verifiable documents, the defendants attempt to impeach the validity of the leadership of the plaintiff fails.

“The plaintiff has proved his case.

“I hereby make an order compelling the defendant to accord the plaintiff’s political party under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure all the rights and privileges accorded a political party duly registered in Nigeria.”

Although the high court’s judgment was upheld by the appellate court, it was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court on Friday.