The Labour Party (LP) has rejected claims that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has withdrawn recognition from its National Chairman, Julius Abure, describing the reports as “false propaganda” while reaffirming that Abure remains the legitimate leader of the party.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, accused Senator Nenadi Usman and her faction of attempting to mislead the public in the wake of Friday’s ruling by the Federal High Court.
Ifoh said that, two separate cases involving the Labour Party were dismissed by the same court. One was filed by Usman through Chris Omofuma, her preferred candidate in the Edo bye-election, while the other was filed by the Abure-led leadership of the party.
He explained that Usman’s suit was dismissed because neither she nor Darlington Nwokocha had the legal authority to nominate a candidate for the bye-election.
Similarly, the court also struck out Abure’s case on grounds of lack of jurisdiction, citing the Supreme Court’s earlier decision that affirmed the right of political parties to resolve internal disputes through their own mechanisms.
“The Supreme Court never said that Abure was not the National Chairman of the Labour Party. It only held that leadership issues are internal affairs of the party,” the statement read.
Ifoh further accused Usman’s camp of deliberately misrepresenting INEC’s counter-affidavit in court as a victory.
He stressed that similar arguments had previously been dismissed by Justices Omotosho and Nwite, the Court of Appeal, and even the Supreme Court.
“Are they celebrating because they want the party to die? Who benefits from all of this saga? Who is the loser? Are Peter Obi and Dr. Alex Otti not actually the losers in all of these? A party that gave them a platform when they had none should not be undermined,” Ifoh added.
He also urged INEC to respect an interlocutory order of the Nasarawa State High Court, which on July 23 directed the commission to continue recognising Julius Abure and Umar Farouk Ibrahim as the authentic leadership of the Labour Party pending the determination of the substantive suit.
“We want to believe that Nigerians will rise to defend this democracy if there is any truth in the rumoured collaboration between INEC and renegades to undermine the Labour Party,” Ifoh stressed.
Despite the ongoing crisis, he appealed to members of the party to remain calm and vigilant, assuring them that the leadership tussle would soon be resolved.
