The leadership tussle between the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee and the Nenadi Usman Caretaker Committee took a dramatic turn on Wednesday, following the return of factional leader Lamidi Apapa.
Apapa, who had disappeared from the political circles in the past year, announced on Wednesday that he had taken over the leadership of the Labour Party following the release of the Certified True Copy of last Friday’s Supreme Court judgment.
In its recent judgment, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had recognised Abure as the party’s national chairman.
On Wednesday, Apapa claimed that the apex court verdict puts him in pole position to replace Abure being the most senior National Deputy Chairman of the party.
He made the assertion in a statement signed by factional National Publicity Secretary, Dr Abayomi Arabambi.
In the statement, Apapa also announced that his National Working Committee, as of 2022, will officially meet next Monday (April 14, 2025) to discuss zoning arrangements.
The statement read, “Following the dismissal of the cross-appeal filed by the ousted former National Chairman, Bar Julius Abure, also by the Supreme Court on 4th April 2025, what this means is that all actions and decisions taken by Julius Abure since 4th April 2023 are null and void.
“Following the decision of the Supreme Court to set aside all judgments that recognise the leadership of Julius Abure as the National Chairman, I, Alhaji Bashiru Lamidi Apapa, the most senior deputy national, and in consonance with our party constitution, Article 14 2(a)(b), hereby take over the running of the affairs of our great party with effect from today, in an acting capacity, and Alh Farouk Umar Ibrahim as National Secretary.
“My leadership hereby calls on all members of the Labour Party that the National Working Committee of our party as of 2022 will meet next week, Monday, 14th April 2025, to announce our plans, which will include zoning the position of National Chairman to the North and National Secretary to the South.”
Otti, Obi visit INEC
On Wednesday, jubilation erupted among Obi and Otti supporters when the latter announced that they had received the official Certified True Copy of last Friday’s Supreme Court judgment on the party’s leadership crisis.
While presenting the 48-page CTC before the Labour Party Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja, Otti reiterated that the document had put an end to the debate of misinterpretation of the verdict.
He said, “I want to say that we welcome the Supreme Court judgment of last Friday, which Certified True Copy just arrived a few minutes again. The 48-page document was very clear in saying that it is all of you seated here that constitute the leadership of the party. I also want to make a point that we are law-abiding people.
“We sat on the 4th of September 2024 in Umuahia, where we unanimously elected a 29-man caretaker committee. Shortly after that exercise, our brothers, on the other side, went to court and got a judgment that pronounced them the party’s leaders.
“If we are not law-abiding, we would have started dragging the office. But we all said since there was a court judgment, let us follow the process, which ended last Friday. We expected that everybody who wants the survival of democracy and progress of this country would have accepted that judgment. So you may not like the judgment, but you must obey it.”
In attendance were the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; the lawmaker representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, Senator Victor Umeh; Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku; and the National Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Senator Darlington Nwokocha.
Others include former LP chieftain Kenneth Okonkwo, members of the National Assembly, Abia State Assembly and chieftains of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, among others.
As Otti read out the excerpts of the document, another frenzy of applause rents the air.
“The same issue submitted for determination is hereby jointly in the favour of the appellants. The appellants are distinguished Senator Esther Nenadi Usman and Senator Darlington Nwokocha. In summary, both the trial courts and the one below have no jurisdiction to entertain the first respondent, Julius Abure.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, the decisions of both trial courts and the one below in recognising Julius Abure as the national chairman of the party is hereby set aside and struck out for want of jurisdiction. In the vein, the first respondent cross-appeal being an offshoot of the same judgment of the courts below is hereby dismissed,” he stated.
When he finished reading the CTC, the governor recalled how he tried to pacify Abure to step down from his position as national chairman and accept a new role as the chairman of the LP Board of Trustees.
Abure, however, allegedly turned down the prospect, saying he wanted nothing.
“But I gave Abure some piece of advice, saying if I were you, I wouldn’t want to lead people who don’t want me as a leader. So, we are still extending the olive branch to him and his former National Working Committee. The leadership of every party should be humble enough to leave at the expiration of their tenure.
“Before I am done, may I appeal to political parties and their members to endeavour to always allow their constitutions, regulations and rules to guide them in choosing their officers and candidates.
“That way, the incessant internal wrangling that always finds its way to court will be reduced. The leadership of every party should be humble enough to leave at the expiration of their tenure,” he said.
On his part, Obi applauded his supporters and Nigerians for being patient and standing solidly behind them.
The former Anambra governor announced that they would move straight to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission to update them about the presence of the CTC and have them replace Abure’s NWC.
He said, “As leaders and elected members of this great party, we are going to leave from here to INEC to submit this document (CTC) so that we can start the process.
“We will go there now and say here are the documents from the court. This is our resolution. So can we now start the process of rebuilding with your cooperation.”
Shortly after leaving Transcorp Hotel, the venue of the NEC meeting, Otti led a high-level delegation to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja to discuss recent developments within the party.
The governor also presented the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment to INEC’s acting Chairman, Sam Olumekun, and other National Commissioners.
Their discussions focused on strengthening collaboration between the LP and INEC, as well as reinforcing democratic principles.
Olumekun emphasised the commission’s commitment to maintaining neutrality, transparency, and the rule of law in fulfilling its constitutional duties.
Abure kicks
Reacting, Abure’s camp dismissed the claim of legitimacy by the caretaker committee, saying their supporters were ‘jubilating for nothing.’
The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, disclosed this in a phone chat with The PUNCH.
When contacted, the LP spokesman mocked the gathering, saying there was nowhere in the CTC that the court mentioned that Abure must step aside.
“They are just jubilating for nothing. The Supreme Court judgment is clear about the position of the party leadership,” he said.
In a follow-up statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Ifoh warned Usman and her hordes of supporters to take a back seat and study the document properly.
He said, “As promised earlier, we warned that Senator Nenadi Usman and her cohorts have been on the voyage of misleading Nigerians with the wrong interpretation of the judgment of the apex court. (Attached is a copy of the CTC). There is nowhere it stated that the leadership of the Abure-led executive has elapsed or that Nenadi Usman and her National Caretaker Committee have been directed to take over the party leadership.
“The Supreme Court emphatically stated that issues within the political party are internal affairs of the party and that party supremacy must be observed. It is pertinent for us to state clearly that there is no vacuum in the leadership of the Labour Party. The highest organ of the party, the national convention, has in March 2024 elected its leaders in line with the constitution of the party and the Electoral Act, and their tenure subsists.
“Consequent upon that, any meeting convened in disregard to the constitution of the party is illegal and the outcome null and void. We are, therefore, warning all those involved in the illegal meeting held in Abuja to refrain from further factionalising the party and respect the constitution of the party, as we will not fail to activate the provision of the party on disciplinary actions.
Ifoh also described the threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress to invade its offices nationwide as a subtle blackmail to make the Julius Abure-led leadership look like a villain before the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies in the country.
He was reacting to Tuesday’s directive by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, for union leaders to begin the process of mobilising their members in readiness to take over the 36 offices and the national secretariat of the Labour Party.
Ajaero said they could not continue to fold their hands and watch the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee defy the Supreme Court’s pronouncement.
But Ifoh warned that hooliganism and rascality, as the NLC leader is allegedly exhibiting, should not be seen as traits of a good unionist.
He said, “Ordinarily, we would have ignored that threat, but there is a need to assure the teeming members of our commitment to keep the faith and resist all forms of rascality and intimidation from persons who think themselves to be above the laws of the land.
“We therefore see NLC’s latest threat as pure blackmail on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and security agencies to do the wrong thing.”
Ifoh recalled that the move was reminiscent of the March 21, 2024 invasion, where aggrieved unionists broke into LP headquarters and other offices, an act that the NWC described as a deliberate action to steal their sensitive documents and money.
He said, “Threats to attack offices and organisations have become the hallmark of the NLC under Ajaero. In 2024, NLC forcefully broke into our national headquarters, carting away valuables. That matter was reported to the police. The recent threat to invade our office was leaked to us by some members of the NLC; hence, we alerted the nation.
“Ajaero should by now learn that attacking law-abiding citizens, hooliganism and rascality is not a trait of a good unionist. He should be concerned more about the workers’ welfare. He has since politicized the Labour Union in Nigeria, and he is no longer fit to occupy that exalted office. We have once advised him to quit unionism and join politics, but he will not listen.
“We must state categorically that NLC has no right to attack any Labour Party office because there is no trade dispute. Based on the Trade Dispute Act, you can not picket or declare a strike without a trade dispute. In any case, we do not have any staff of the NLC in our employment. There is no Union in our offices. Their action is purely an illegality.”
The LP spokesman also charged Ajaero to seek legal counsel if he cannot comprehend the judgment.
“The Supreme Court stated that courts cannot interfere in the internal affairs of a political party. The courts didn’t sack the NWC nor held the tenure to have lapsed. We advise Joe Ajaero and his ilk to seek legal advice if they cannot comprehend a simple court pronouncement.
“Let it be known that we will take every legal means to deal with Ajero and his gangsters should they attempt to resort to self-help. We will not hesitate to write to the Registrar of Trade Union to discipline them if they resort to taking laws into their own hands.
“Finally, we will seek the protection of the security agencies, but where they defy the security agencies, we will have no option but to mobilise our members across the nation to resist them.”
In a separate statement, the factional National Secretary of LP, Alhaji Umar Farouk, has slammed Obi, Otti and the Usman-led caretaker committee, describing their action as an act of desperation.
While calling their National Executive Committee meeting and visit to INEC headquarters illegal, Farouk asserted that the mission had shown the high level of desperation by Obi and Otti to hijack the structure of the party.
“If really the Supreme Court decision is in their favour, why are they rushing to INEC to be putting undue influence on the Commission to do the wrong thing? Also, in their meeting today, they boasted of wanting to give the National Chairman, Barrister Abure, a soft landing by offering him the position of Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
“Unfortunately for them, Abure didn’t make himself the National Chairman. Therefore, it is not about Abure but about what the structures have said. It is about the supremacy of the organs of the party and the need to do things right.
“It is not about offering the BoT to the National chairman that matters because it is not within anybody’s prerogative to allocate positions; needless to say, it is all these arbitral behaviours by some leaders that have led this country into the near-mess it has found itself.”
