The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reaffirmed that Julius Abure remains the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Hamma Barka, ruled that its earlier judgement from November 13, 2024, recognizing Abure’s position as national chairman still stands and has not been overturned by any other court.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Barka addressed two separate appeals filed by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, the Labour Party caretaker committee, and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The court determined that the leadership issue of the Labour Party was not within its jurisdiction to resolve, as such matters are deemed non-justiciable.
The court further stated that any action taken outside of jurisdiction is void, and therefore, the October 8, 2024, ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court was invalid due to lack of jurisdiction. Justice Barka emphasized that the Federal High Court’s judgment could not stand, as the court did not have the authority to entertain the matter.
In striking out the suit for lack of jurisdiction, the appellate court reaffirmed its earlier decision from November 2024, declaring that Julius Abure remains the legitimate National Chairman of the Labour Party.
“We cannot say this appeal fails or succeed because the lower court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit in the first place”, Barka held.
While striking out the suit for want of jurisdiction, he held that the appellate relied on its previous judgement of November 13 last year to hold that “Abure Remains National Chairman of the Labour Party”.