Court Lifts Suspension On Labour Party Chairman

Justice Hamza Muazu of an Abuja High Court issued an order delaying the suspension of Julius Abure as the Labour Party (LP) Chairman and other party executives on May 19.

Clement Ojukwu, the national organising secretary, and Oluchi Opara, the national treasurer, are the other two.

Some unhappy party members, including Martins Esikpali John, Lucky Shaibu, Isah Zekeri, Omogbai Frank, Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef, John Elomah, and Ayobami Arabambi, filed a lawsuit under the number M/7082.2023, asking for the removal of Abure and the three other national officers. However, the judge instead issued an order of suspension.

After hearing the arguments from the parties on Friday, the judge approved the order for a stay of execution while the defendants’ appeal was being decided.

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On April 5, Muazu had ordered a temporary injunction preventing Abure, Ibrahim, Ojukwu, and Ms Opara from posing as national officers of LP. This was stated in an ex-parte application filed before the court by the eight plaintiffs and designated M/7082/2023.

The defendants informed the court at today’s hearing that they had an appeal notice pending with the Court of Appeal. The judge ordered a suspended stay after hearing a lot of arguments from the parties.

After the ex-parte injunction on 5 April, Alex Ejesieme, SAN, claimed on April 20 that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. The senior attorney had argued that the case at hand touched on Labour Party internal matters and that the criminal claims brought by the plaintiffs in the case could not be addressed in an originating summons. The eight plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit with the court, he continued, lacked locus standi to do so because they were not a part of the party’s National Executive Council.

According to Mr Ejesieme: “Our contention is clear that those criminal allegations cannot be ventilated in an origination summon. The issue of locus standi is there. When you refer to LP’s constitution, the claimants are not members of NEC or the party. They have a duty to present their membership cards to the court, which they didn’t.”

George Ibrahim, the plaintiffs’ attorney, requested that the court dismiss the preliminary objection made by the attorney representing Abure. He said that the first through fourth accused were still posing as national officers of the LP and had not yet complied with the court’s decision from 5 April.

With the court’s decision that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter, its order from April 5 is still in effect.

The judge then postponed hearing the main argument until Friday.