By Publisher
Kindly share
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, may have begun enforcing the Supreme Court ruling on the leadership crisis, rocking the Labour Party, LP, by rejecting the list of candidates submitted by the Julius Abure-led faction for the August 16, 2025, nationwide by-elections and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, council polls.
The development, which favours the faction loyal to Peter Obi and Governor Alex Otti of Abia State is widely regarded as a formal derecognition of Abure’s leadership and an affirmation of the Supreme Court’s April 4, 2025.
The apex court’s ruling had been subjected to differing interpretations by the warring factions.
While the Nenadi Usman-led faction sees it as disqualifying Abure from further parading himself as national chairman, his faction believes otherwise.
Reacting to INEC’s decision to reject the list of the party’s candidates Usman said it had vindicated its position.
“Though it’s unfortunate that the Labour Party’s candidates under Abure are missing from the list, it’s heartwarming to see that INEC is beginning to give effect to the Supreme Court judgment which affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman as the authentic chairman of the Labour Party,” Ken Asogwa, Usman’s media aide, said.
“We urge INEC to take further steps by officially recognising Senator Usman as the valid chairman of the party.”
However, the Abure faction kicked against the development and described it as “unlawful” and a “clear abuse of power”.
Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led group, stated that no court sacked Abure, adding that INEC acted outside the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
“INEC has no power to stop us from sponsoring candidates or select which elections our party can participate in,”. Ifoh said.
“The April 4 judgment only ruled on jurisdiction and did not address the core issues. The court did not empower INEC to meddle in our party’s internal affairs,” and demanded that INEC should reverse its decision and accept.
INEC had not monitored any of the primaries conducted by Abure’s faction.
It also did not include the faction in its recent quarterly meeting with political parties, and maintained that Abure ceased to be Labour Party’s national chairman since June 2023.
