No Way Back for Julius Abure in Labour Party — Senator Victor Umeh

Senator Victor Umeh, who represents Anambra Central in the National Assembly, has declared that there is no path back to leadership in the Labour Party (LP) for its embattled former National Chairman, Julius Abure.

Umeh made this statement during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, asserting that the recent Supreme Court judgement on the LP leadership crisis has effectively closed the door on Abure’s return.

“The door has been shut on him [Abure], and the only thing left is for him to reflect on the admonishment given by the Supreme Court — that officers of a party should be humble enough to leave office when their tenure expires,” Umeh said.

According to the senator, Abure’s tenure has expired, and he is in breach of a consent judgment earlier delivered by the Federal High Court, which had laid out specific directives for him to follow — all of which he ignored.

“From that time till today, Abure has not held any congress anywhere,” Umeh added.

He called on Abure to rejoin the leadership selection process if he still wishes to serve as the party’s national chairman, stressing that no one can impose themselves on the party without following due process.

Umeh revealed that he had foreseen the crisis and offered advice to Abure, which was disregarded.

The Labour Party, which placed third in the 2023 general elections, has been engulfed in a leadership tussle. Abure and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) have been at odds with a Caretaker Committee led by Nenadi Usman.

The caretaker body was constituted by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Abia State Governor Alex Otti, and other elected LP officials.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to pronounce Abure as the party’s National Chairman, having identified the core issue as an internal party matter.

The apex court reiterated that courts have no jurisdiction over internal leadership issues and affirmed that Abure’s tenure had long expired.