***Interim Chair Nenadi Usman Says Judgment Restores Focus, Ends Leadership Distraction
The Labour Party’s long-running leadership tussle may have reached its final bus stop as the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday threw out Julius Abure’s case against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ruling that he is no longer the party’s National Chairman.
In Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1523/2025, the court held it lacked jurisdiction and leaned heavily on the Supreme Court’s April 4, 2025 verdict (Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025) that had already struck down all prior claims to Abure’s leadership.
Reacting swiftly, Interim National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, PhD, declared the ruling a watershed moment: “This judgment removes every lingering doubt.
The chapter on Abure is closed. Our duty now is to put distractions behind us and rebuild the Labour Party into the disciplined, people-centred movement Nigerians deserve.”
INEC’s submissions in court delivered the final blow. In a sworn affidavit, the commission affirmed that Abure’s tenure — along with his National Executive Committee, lapsed in June 2024, and that his much-touted March 27, 2024 “Nnewi National Convention” was a legal nullity, never monitored or recognised because it breached the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s guidelines, and the Labour Party’s own constitution.
Senator Usman hailed INEC’s “clarity, courage, and institutional integrity” in spelling out the facts, urging party members nationwide to “respect the supremacy of the Constitution and the authority of the courts.”
With crucial bye-elections just days away and the 2027 polls already on the horizon, yesterday’s ruling could draw a line under the bruising factional battles that have paralysed the party for more than a year.
But whether Abure and his loyalists will finally retreat — or find another courtroom to prolong the fight — remains the question.
