Abure Defies Court Ruling, Refuses To Accept Labour Party Leadership Loss....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State’s capital, invalidated all the off-season governorship primary elections overseen by Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman, introducing a new dimension to the ongoing leadership dispute within the Labour Party.

The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognize and publish the names of the governorship candidates in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states that were endorsed by the Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee during a court session relocated from Owerri to Abuja due to security concerns.

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Furthermore, the appellate court rejected Senator Athan Achonu’s bid for the Imo State governorship position.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Apapa maintained that the court’s ruling affirmed that Abure was not the legitimate party chairman during the primary elections. Apapa emphasized that the Federal High Court’s ban on Abure posing as the LP chairman had not been lifted.

Apapa stated, “The Edo State matter primarily concerns civil matters. The Excos in Edo suspended him and went to court because of that, but they lack the authority to suspend him. I’m referring to the ward level. However, the FCT (court) restraining order pertains to criminal matters and involves the state and Abure, and nobody is above the law. That’s the distinction between a civil matter and a criminal matter. The FCT order has not been vacated, and that is why the Appeal Court affirmed that the restraining order was in place when he conducted his primary, and it remains in force to this day. That is the distinction between the two.

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The factional leader also noted that the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, Peter Obi, had acted in defiance of the court’s ruling during a recent party event in Benin City. Apapa expressed his willingness to pursue reconciliation.

However, Abure responded in an exclusive phone conversation with The PUNCH, dismissing the news as “fake.” He asserted that Senator Athan Achonu was their candidate and clarified that the lower court had declared no jurisdiction and ordered the status quo to be maintained.

The LP National Secretary, Umar Farouk, pointed out that Abure’s name was not mentioned in the appellate court’s ruling, contradicting the reports. Farouk declared, “That report was incorrect. There was no mention of Abure in the ruling. The judgment contained no reference to him. Someone somewhere misinterpreted the judgment. It is incorrect.”