On Friday, Edo State High Court in Edo dismissed the notice of suspension filed by certain party members at the ward level against the beleaguered National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure. Justice Emmanuel Aihamoje dismissed the case for lack of merit.
On Friday, the party’s acting National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, published a statement in Abuja. He disclosed that Abure and the executive members of the LP in Ward Three in the Esan North-East of Edo State filed the action.
In his almost two-hour-long ruling, Aihamoje stated that the party’s ward executive members in Uromi in Ward Three lacked the right to dismiss the party’s national chairman under the party’s constitution, namely Acts 13 and 17 and the Electoral Act 2022, as amended.
In suit number HUC/21/2023, the judge issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Lamidi Apapa and his side from dismissing or suspending Abure as national chairman. The injunction will remain in effect until the party calls for a new national convention.
Aihamoje further asserted that the supposed Ward Three executive members who suspended the party’s national chairperson acted outside of the authority granted to them by the Labour Party constitution.
Ward 3 Chairman Thompson Ehiguese informed media on the court grounds that the judgement had put a stop to impostors posing as party members in the ward.
Furthermore,
He continued, “These charlatans claiming to be members of our party are from Edo North and members of APC. I want to use this medium to congratulate the Labour Party and the ‘Obidient’ movement that stood firmly with Julius Abure while the sponsored crisis in our great party lasted”.
According to the state Chairman, Kelly Ogbaloi, the Labour Party has been vindicated.
President Aigbokhan, counsel for the LP, called the ruling a milestone decision that will stand the test of time.
He explained, “Any decision taken on the void notice of suspension falls effortlessly. In its decision, the court emphasized that the role of ward executive members in the Labour Party does not include the suspension of national officers of the party”.
When contacted, Abayomi Arabambi, spokesperson for the Lamidi Apapa-led group, announced plans for a news conference to address the verdict. However, there has been no communication from him at the time of this report.
cc: Punch Ng
