I remain LP National Chairman, no vacancy in party leadership — Abure declares

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Warns Obi, Otti to abide by Supreme Court rulingEmbattled National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure has declared that he remains firmly in charge of the party, insisting that there is no leadership vacuum or legitimate alternative to his authority.Speaking through the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, at a media briefing held in Abuja on Thursday, Abure reaffirmed his position and dismissed the Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee as illegitimate.He warned prominent figures within the party, including Abia State Governor Alex Otti and former presidential candidate Peter Obi, to desist from misrepresenting the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the party’s leadership status.



“The position of the Labour Party after critically reviewing the Supreme Court judgment delivered on the 4th of April 2025 stated as follows: The Supreme Court, contrary to speculations, actually reaffirmed the National Convention of the party held on the 27th of March 2024 at Nnewi,” Ifoh said on behalf of Abure.He stated that the ruling confirms the legality of the party’s National Working Committee, led by him, and accused some party stakeholders of misinterpreting the judgment to create confusion and division.“The reason for the non-justiciability of internal disputes of a political party is simple, and in the eyes of the law, a political party is a corporate entity with its constitution, rules, regulations, and guidelines which are binding on members who had joined freely and have consented to be so bound (See Abegunde Vs.

Ondo State House of Assembly & Ors. (2015) LPELR-24588 (SC),” he quoted from the judgment.“Consequently, we admonished Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, and Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of our party in the 2023 general election, who are the protagonists of the current division in the party, to hear the Supreme Court loud and clear,” he added.

Abure maintained that all legal and procedural steps were followed before the March 2024 national convention that reaffirmed his leadership, noting that claims of expired tenure were based on faulty interpretations.He continued, “The Supreme Court admonished party members to respect the Constitution of their party when it stated thus: Political parties have put in place diverse kinds of internal dispute resolution mechanisms to handle any matter arising from disputes among members. Political parties and their members should, therefore, have faith in the internal dispute resolution mechanisms prescribed in their party constitution.

”The statement came in response to a recent counter-move by the Obi-Otti faction, which had presented a 48-page Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment during a parallel National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja. Otti claimed the document clarified the ruling and favoured the caretaker leadership.Efforts to obtain comments from Obi’s media aide, Umar Ibrahim, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

Also, spokesman for the Usman-led faction, Tony Akeni, said he was indisposed and asked for more time.The post I remain LP National Chairman, no vacancy in party leadership — Abure declares appeared first on Nigerian NewsDirect..