Abure not sacked, Apapa’s camp twisted Appeal Court judgement – LP

The Labour Party (LP) has denied reports that its executive committee, headed by Julius Abure, was terminated by the Appeal Court.

According to the LP, Mr. Basil Maduka, a candidate for the Labour Party’s governorship nomination in Imo State, had his appeal refused by the Court of Appeal in Owerri, dealing yet another devastating blow to the Lamidi Apapa-led group.

The LP has asked its constituents and the public at large to separate themselves from “falling and compromised members of the party” it claims to have expelled.

LP National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh issued a statement on Thursday claiming that Apapa’s side had distorted the appellate court’s verdict in order to mislead the people.

There was some uncertainty, according to the media, as Julius Abure was apparently removed from his position as National Chairman of the Labour Party by the Court of Appeal in Owerri on Thursday.

In the same ruling, it was claimed that the court officially acknowledged Lamidi Apapa as the party’s national chairman.

According to the statement, the court determined that an appeal was unnecessary because the trial court’s judgment was in its favor and that the trial judge’s mere comments in the matter did not constitute a verdict and should be disregarded.

Senator Athan Achonu was declared the winner of the Labour Party’s primaries, and Ifoh informed the court that the Labour Party had moved the Court of Appeal to dismiss the judgment of the trial judge in the Federal High judge in Owerri.

When asked to elaborate, he said, “It is, therefore, important to state that neither the Federal High Court Owerri nor the Court of Appeal Owerri, which sat in Abuja today, made any orders in the matter other than for lack of locus standi against the plaintiff (Basil Maduka).”

Instead, they claimed that “the status quo remains with Senator Athan Achonu as the validly nominated candidate of Labour Party for 2023 Imo governorship election.”

To elaborate, Ifoh said that the gubernatorial ticket dispute has been resolved thanks to the Court of Appeal’s ruling and Senator Achonu’s endorsement by the party’s national leader Peter Obi, Abia State Governor Alex Otti, the Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure, and other stakeholders and party members.