The crisis rocking the Labour Party over its perennial leadership tussle took a twist on Thursday when the Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State capital, invalidated all the off-season governorship primary elections conducted by the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure.
Igbere TV had reported that the court sitting, which was moved from Owerri to Abuja owing to security reasons, also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to immediately recognise and publish the names of all the governorship candidates in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states produced by the Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee.
The appellate court further dismissed the candidature of Senator Athan Achonu in the forthcoming governorship election in Imo State.
Apapa also noted that the Federal High Court order restraining Abure from parading himself as the LP chairman was yet to be vacated.
Apapa said, “The Edo State matter more or less has to do with civil matters. The Excos in Edo suspended him and they went to court because of that, and they don’t have the right to suspend him. I’m talking about the ward level.”
But Abure, reacting to the said judgment, highlighted “It is nothing but fake news. Let me send you our official reaction to the report. Senator Athan Achonu is our candidate. The lower court said it has no jurisdiction to look at the case ab initio and that the status quo should remain.
The court today now said the appeal was unnecessary because it has denied jurisdiction. That was what they said. So neither the Federal High Court nor the Appeal Court was in their favour. But we know they are used to carrying propaganda and so on.”
Also, the LP National Secretary, Umar Farouk, disclosed that there was no mention of Abure in the ruling passed by the appellate court.
Farouk said, “That report was wrong. There was no where in the ruling where Abure was mentioned. Nothing was in the judgment. Somebody somewhere just twisted the judgment. It is wrong,” Farouk stated
