Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has assured the sacked national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, and others of forgiveness and reintegration into the party if they are willing to embrace peace and reconciliation.
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This comes as a chieftain of the Labour Party from the Abure faction, Abayomi Arabambi, has vowed that the faction would appeal the Federal High Court judgment that recognised Senator Nenadi Usman as the authentic national chairman of the party.
A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, declared on Wednesday that former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman, and not Mr. Abure, was the valid national chairperson of the LP, based on the Supreme Court’s April 4, 2025 verdict.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Usman-led caretaker committee as “the only valid authority to represent the Labour Party,” pending the party’s national convention.
Justice Lifu held that the evidence before the court showed Mr. Abure’s tenure as national chairman had elapsed. While dismissing his claim that the matter was an internal party issue that was not justiciable, the judge said the establishment of the LP caretaker committee was “a necessity” arising from the Supreme Court order.
In a statement issued on Thursday by Ferdinand Ekeoma, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Otti called on “those responsible for all the frivolous litigations against the party” to sheathe their sword and respect the judgement of the Federal High Court.
The governor said the judgement of the Federal High Court is in tandem with that of the Supreme Court, assuring them of “forgiveness and proper reintegration as long as they are willing to turn a new leaf and become law-abiding members of the party.”
He congratulated the LP National Caretaker Committee led by Ms. Usman as chairperson and Darlington Nwokocha as secretary on the judgement.
“This victory is both heartwarming and timely as it provides us with the opportunity of ensuring that peace, order and unity return to the party, while ensuring re-organisation and rejuvenation of the party to become, not just a truly democratic party that meets the high expectations of its members, but a formidable political platform that is poised to achieving electoral victories and rendering good governance at all levels,” the governor stated.
However, speaking in an interview, Labour Party chieftain Abayomi Arabambi said the Abure faction has already filed an appeal against the judgment.
“We have filed our appeal. Even though we will see a mandate, because the judge promised us that the CTC will be ready yesterday. We have to fight that appeal because we knew the game they want to play. And we have also filed motion for stay of execution of this judgment, which is the normal practice in law,” Arabambi said.
He disputed claims that the Supreme Court had declared Abure’s tenure expired or pronounced Nenadi Usman as chairman.
“There is no place in this judgment where Nenadi was pronounced as the party chairman. There is no way in the judgment where the Supreme Court pronounced Abure’s tenure has expired,” Arabambi insisted.
Arabambi warned that if there is any alteration or forgery in the judgment, they would escalate the matter internationally.
“Once we have the CTC, then you will hear more from us. We are not going to allow this one to slide. If what is not said by the Supreme Court is being claimed to be pronounced by a judge in Nigeria, then there is a problem,” he said.
“We will make our case known to the international community. We will submit it to the American Congress. It is better we try to streamline the way our judiciary will work.”
When asked if Abure remained the chairman of the party, Arabambi responded: “Abure remained the chairman of the party because from there I will see it go to Supreme Court.”
The LP recently appointed Mr. Otti as its national leader after Peter Obi, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, defected to the African Democratic Congress. The governor had said he would rather remain in the LP and help rebuild it than defect with Mr. Obi.
The leadership crisis in the LP had earlier led the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to remove Mr. Abure. To fill the leadership vacuum, the party constituted a 29-member caretaker committee chaired by Ms. Usman, following an expanded stakeholders’ meeting hosted in Umuahia by Governor Otti.
While both the High Court and Court of Appeal had earlier upheld Mr. Abure’s position and ordered INEC to recognise him, the Supreme Court later overturned the rulings, allowing the appeal filed by Ms. Usman and Mr. Nwokocha.
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