By Jude Opara, Abuja
There are very strong indications that the crisis rocking the opposition Labour Party (LP) may linger for some time, this is as the two contending factions led by Barr. Julius Abure and Senator Nenadi Usman are claiming victory following the judgement delivered on Friday by the Supreme Court.
The two factions in their different interpretations said the apex court gave ruling in their favour.
In counter statements issued and signed by Sen. Nenadi Usman herself for the Caretaker committee she leads and the National Publicity Secretary (NPS) of the Abure led National Working Committee (NWC), Obiora Ifoh, they each hailed the Supreme Court for delivering justice.
Senator Nenadi Usman then stated that the time is not for anyone to triumph but rather a time for every well meaning party faithful to come together and rebuild the party.
She said “The recent ruling by the Supreme Court, which allowed the appeal filed by Senator Nenadi Usman—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-centred governance.
“We call on all party members, supporters, and stakeholders to remain calm, focused, and committed to the democratic ideals that bind us”.
However, in his own perspective, the NPS of the Julius Abure led NWC, Obiora Ifoh said emphatically that the ruling of the Supreme Court upholds Abure as the National Chairman of the party.
Ifoh added that the court further held that the lower courts erred in dabbling into the case in the first place because it’s only members of a political party that have the right to select their leadership.
According to him, the position of the apex court further reduced the impact of the convention of the party in Umuahia, Abia state last year, where the Senator Nenadi Usman led Caretaker Committee was birthed.
“The Supreme Court today, April 4, 2025 gave a judgement in the cases brought against the Labour Party. In its judgement, the court said the matter is purely an internal affairs of the political party of which courts have no business to dabble into them.
“The Supreme Court insists that the lower courts should have declined jurisdiction and shouldn’t have made pronouncement on the leadership of a political party. It therefore struck out Senator Nenadi Usman’s appeal at the Appeal Court and the Labour Party suit at the trial court.
“The supreme court judgment didn’t sack Labour Party national chairman Barrister Julius Abure rather it rightly upheld the preceding and accumulated high courts and appeal court judgments upholding the immutability of responsibility of Labour Party structures to choose its leaders.
“The judgement did not also set aside the Appeal Court judgement in Labour Party vs Ebiseni and 2 others (CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024) delivered on the 13 November 2024 which affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party. The judgement is still valid and subsisting and has not been appealed.
“The implication is very clear. Barrister Julius Abure remains Labour Party national chairman.
“The question is: who are the leaders of the party? The party constitution is clear as who are the leaders of the party. The leadership of the party has been the National Working Committee led by Barrister Julius Abure”, Obiora wrote.
The statement also claimed that the court did not sack Abure as the leader of the party.
“The gathering of people in Umuahia is clearly not in line with the constitution and therefore the celebration by some persons that the leadership of Julius Abure has been sacked were only trying to be mischievous and misleading and that the Supreme Court didn’t say so.
“The leadership of the party is therefore satisfied with the judgement of the apex court which goes to reaffirm Barrister Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party and the current national working committee as validly elected having been duly nominated, endorsed, and ratified through the internal mechanism of the Labour Party statutory organs in line with the party’s constitution”.
However, the faction equally called on all members of the party to come together and rebuild the party.
It’s left to be seen what unfolds in the coming days with both factions laying claims to the leadership of the Labour Party.
