S’Court judgment: Abure fears LP HQ takeover by NLC

The battle for the control of the Labour Party took a fresh twist, on Sunday, as the Julius Abure leadership invited a team of policemen and private operatives to mount surveillance at the entrance of the party’s headquarters in Abuja following a report of a planned invasion.

Our correspondent saw two police vans parked strategically at opposite sides of the LP secretariat, while about eight policemen stood about.

When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, told The PUNCH that the measure was taken to forestall chaos following the alleged misinterpretation of Friday’s Supreme Court judgment, which has continued to elicit mixed reactions from the stakeholders.

In a statement on Sunday, LP’s National Secretary, Umar  Ibrahim, raised the alarm that the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee of the LP were mobilising their members and some hired thugs to invade the secretariat.

Ibrahim alleged that the said alleged invasion was bankrolled by Abia State Governor Alex Otti,  and one undisclosed ‘prominent leader in the party.

According to him, the NLC plans to break into their offices to cart away sensitive documents and vandalise properties belonging to the party as they did in the past.

He said, “We view this (planned) action as irresponsible and evidence of desperation by the NLC. The laws of the Labour Union forbid them from partisan politics, which they did on different occasions in the past when they mobilised miscreants to desecrate the party headquarters and vandalise the properties.

“It must be noted that the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on April 5 is very clear and unambiguous. The judgment simply mandates political parties to always resolve their crisis using internal mechanisms. There is nowhere in the judgment that gave the NLC or the caretaker committee the power to take over the leadership of the Labour Party.”

Continuing, the LP scribe warned that any attempt to force out the current party leadership would be resisted.

“There is a leadership in place in the Labour Party, and Julius Abure, who was validly elected at a convention held in March 2024, still remains the National Chairman of the Labour Party. Any attempt to forcefully usurp the present leadership will be resisted.

“We are, by this statement, calling on the attention of the security agencies, including the police, and the DSS, among others, to ensure that any activity that is capable of breaching the peace of the FCT must be nipped in the bud and that the masterminds, no matter how highly placed they might be, are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law,” he stated.

Efforts to get the reaction of the acting National Chairman of the NLC Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku, were unsuccessful.

The union leader, however, texted our correspondent, saying he was in a meeting and ‘I will call you back.’

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Usman-led caretaker committee, Tony Akeni, expressed surprise when asked if they planned to truly invade the secretariat.

While dismissing the allegation, Akeni said it was a case of the guilty taking to his heels even when no one was chasing after him.

He said, “The allegation is of a criminal nature. But as (popular novelist) James Hadley Chase says, the guilty are afraid and they flee when no man is pursuing them. Perhaps they are acting reverse psychology on what they would have done if they were in our position.

“These people are intentionally criminal in mind and nature. Let us get this thing straight, it is a case of an illegal tenant in an apartment who has exhausted hos stay, legally and otherwise. Even the Supreme Court has ruled that Abure is not in any position to put himself as the National Chairman of the Labour Party based on that veŕidct.

“If they are wise and law-abiding, after the judgment, what they should have done is to put their luggage together and hand over the key to the caretaker committee chairman, Nenadi Usman. But if they refuse, of course, we have no option but to flush them out and take over our possessions. But it will be done lawfully.”

The PUNCH reported that in a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which earlier recognised Abure’s leadership.

The apex court, in its decision, emphasised that matters relating to party leadership are internal affairs, over which the judiciary has no jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the court also observed that, based on the submissions before it, Abure’s tenure had already expired.

Consequently, it dismissed the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the Labour Party.

While the media was awash with news that Abure has been sacked by the apex court, Ifoh hailed the judgment, clarifying that it validated their earlier position that political matters are strictly internal affairs of the party.

Since then, the absence and the continued silence of Abure has got many people worried about his whereabouts.

Meanwhile,  the senator representing Edo South in the National Assembly, Neda Imasuen,  hailed Supreme Court’s verdict, insisting that Abure has been removed.

Speaking to journalists in Benin on Saturday night, Imasuen, an LP Senator, described what had been happening in the Labour Party after the 2023 general elections as unfortunate.

He said, “Sincerely, I welcome the Supreme Court’s judgment that sacked Barrister Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

“A lot has gone on in the Labour Party after the 2023 general elections, and it is very unfortunate. So, Abure who was the chairman at the time, in my opinion really didn’t have the party at heart because it has become a personal thing.

“It became something that didn’t  really matter to them, and it was like let’s fight and tear the party into pieces instead of preserving it. That sort of thing was not what I expected from someone who led the party at a  time.  And, so he has  been dragging the party in and out of court and now that the Supreme Court has finally sealed it, so be it . It’s a welcome development.”