The pro-Abure National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, has dismissed the threat by the party’s caretaker committee, led by Nenadi Usman, to appeal last week’s judgment affirming Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman.
The Federal High Court in Abuja declared the contentious national convention that returned Abure and his National Working Committee to office as valid.
The Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee met with the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, before deciding to drag Abure to the Appeal Court.
However, Ifoh, argued that the Usman-led 29-man caretaker panel was unknown to law and thus lacked the locus standi to challenge the court’s judgment validating Abure’s leadership.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, Ifoh stated that the Abure-led NWC was not losing sleep over the threat to appeal the judgment. According to him, neither Obi nor the committee was a party to the case in the first place.
Ifoh said, “It would be unfortunate if they toe that line because you can’t appeal a judgment that you are not a party to. The caretaker committee is not a body known to the Labour Party constitution. It is not a body known to the electoral law or the Constitution of Nigeria. So, they do not even have a locus.”
He further emphasized, “The body was not part of the suit. The suit was between the Labour Party and the INEC. So you cannot appeal what you are not involved in. There are so many instances in the Nigerian law that say if you are not a party to any suit, you cannot appeal.”
Ifoh also pointed out that Nigerian law prohibits appealing a judgment if one is not a party to the suit.
“They have an alternative, maybe they can start a fresh suit. But their name, as I told you, is not even recognised by the law,” he added.
Ultimately, Ifoh believes the Labour Party has resolved its crisis, and those unhappy with Abure’s leadership will have to wait until his term expires in 2028.
He said, “What is important is that the Labour Party has been in existence, and we have our fair share of crisis, which has been firmly resolved in the interest of the party. If you don’t like the leadership, you will have to wait until its term expires in four years. For now, the leadership of Julius Abure will expire in 2028. That is what the law has said.”
