Court Affirms Lamidi Apapa As Labour Party National Chairman, Sacks Abure

The Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State, has sacked Julius Abure and reinstated Lamidi Apapa as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP). In a ruling on Thursday, the court recognised Apapa as the authentic national chairman of the party. The court also nullified the candidacy of the governorship candidates who emerged from Abure-led faction of the party, including Senator Athan Achonu, who is in the running to contest in the next election in Imo state.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the governorship candidates of the party who emerged from the Apapa-led faction in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states and publish their names. Recall that a Court of Appeal in Benin City, Edo State capital, on Monday, affirmed Abure as the authentic national chairman of the party. In his lead judgment, Justice Abadua affirmed the decision of the High Court of Edo State and held that one man cannot suspend the national chairman of the party in line with Articles 13 and 17 of the Constitution of the Party and the extant Electoral Act of 2022. Naija News reports that the leadership tussle between Abure and Apapa dated back to April after seven members of its National Working Committee, announced Apapa as the acting chairman of the party, replacing the suspended chairman, Julius Abure. Some political thugs had earlier stormed the party’s national headquarters in Abuja and also some stern-looking police officers swiftly took over the building. Speaking after an emergency meeting held at the party’s secretariat, Apapa said the NWC members acted on the judgement of the Federal Capital Territory High Court which restrained Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the party. Apart from Abure, the court also restrained three other officials of the party over alleged forgery.