The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday, August 15, 2025, dismissed a suit filed by the factional chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for refusing to recognise him as the authentic chairman of the Party.
Delivering judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1523/2025, the Court held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, declaring that the Supreme Court in its April 4, 2025 judgement in Appeal No. SC/CV/56/2025, nullified all prior recognitions of Abure’s leadership of the Labour Party.
The court said that based on Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), all courts are mandated to give effect to the decisions of the Supreme Court.
INEC had in a counter-affidavit to Abure’s suit, stated that Abure’s tenure, along with that of the National Executive Committee (NEC), expired in June 2024.
The Electoral body told the court that it neither monitored nor recognised the March 27, 2024, convention of the Abure-led Labour Party in Nnewi, stressing that it was a breach of the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s regulations, and the Labour Party constitution.
Accordingly, the Court struck out the suit.
Commenting on the decision of the Court, the Caretaker National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, said judgment is as another unambiguous affirmation of the rule of law and a reinforcement of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Usman urged party members to move past what she described as the “needless distraction” and focus on rebuilding the Labour Party into a credible, disciplined, focused, and people-centred political movement.
With the Court decision, the leadership crisis that had bedevilled the Labour Party has given room for turn around.
