LP Crisis: Abure, others set to resume office as court lifts suspension

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, and three other national executive members on Thursday announced their return to the party secretariat. Julius Abure and other suspended Labour Party leaders are back in office [Labour Party]

The development is coming one month after they were barred by Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal High Court in Abuja from parading themselves as national officers of the party.

Julius Abure has been reinstated on Friday May 19 as the national chairman of the Labour Party after an FCT high court lifted his suspension. The presiding Justice Hamza Muazu ruled that Abure and three other executives whose suspensions were lifted had a valid appeal.

These executives include the national secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, the national organizing secretary, Mr Clement Ojukwu and the national treasurer, Oluchi Opara.

In his ruling on Friday, May 19, Justice Muazu agreed with the LP lawyers that the notice of appeal and documents submitted to the court showed a valid appeal before the Court of Appeal.

The judge had earlier granted an order for stay execution pending the determination of the appeal filed by the defendants.

It was gathered that Justice Muazu overruled the objection of the factional Labour Party counsel, George Ibrahim, for the stay of execution granted. Counsel to the plaintiff, Ogwu Onoja SAN, had earlier told the court that Abure and his cohorts allegedly forged several documents of the FCT High Court, including receipts, seals and affidavits, to carry out unlawful substitutions in the last general election.

Recall the plaintiffs in the case are Martins Esikpali John, Lucky Shaibu, Isah Zekeri, Omogbai Frank; Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef, John Elomah and Dr Ayobami Arabambi had in an ex-parte motion, marked M/7082/2023, sought the removal of Abure and the three other national officers of the party, and the judge granted an order of suspension.

Justice Muazu had on April 5 issued an interim injunction stopping Abure, Ojukwu, and Opara from parading themselves as national officers of LP pending the determination of the appeal filed by the defendants.

Following the April 5 ex-parte injunction, Alex Ejesieme (SAN) counsel to the defendant had on April 20 argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

The senior advocate had submitted that the matter before the court bordered on the internal affairs of the Labour Party, adding that criminal allegations made by the plaintiffs in the case, could not be ventilated in an origination summon.

He added that the eight plaintiffs that brought the case before the court were not members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party and as such lacked the locus standi to institute the case.

According to Ejesieme, “Our contention is very clear that those criminal allegations cannot be ventilated in an origination summon.

“The issue of locus standi is there. When you referred to LP’s constitution, the claimants are not members of NEC or the party.

“They have a duty to present their membership cards to the court which they didn’t.”

While objecting to the preliminary objection raised by the counsel for Abure, counsel for the plaintiffs, George Ibrahim, urged the court to dismiss it.

According to him, the first to fourth defendants had yet to obey the April 5 order of the court as they were still parading themselves as national officers of the LP.