In a new twist to the Labour Party (LP) leadership saga, the party’s factional National Chairman, Alhaji Lamidi Apapa, has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to order the Inspector-General of Police to remove the suspended National Chairman, Julius Abure, from the party’s national secretariat.
Apapa and his co-plaintiffs, which include Alhaji Lawal Saleh, the Acting National Secretary, and Comrade Anslem Eragbe, the National Youth Leader, have lodged a suit requesting a permanent injunction to prevent Abure and three other suspended national officers from continuing to claim they are the national chairman and officers of the party.
The plaintiffs also want the court to nullify all actions taken by the defendants since they were restrained by the FCT High Court and subsequently suspended by the Labour Party’s National Executive Council (NEC) on May 3, 2023.
The lawsuit further seeks an order forcing the defendants to account for all money or funds they have received on behalf of the party and to return such funds.
In their plea to the court, the plaintiffs referred to Abure and the other co-defendants, who were suspended from their positions, as “illegal occupants” of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
They cited the Labour Party’s constitution, asserting that the NEC has the authority to discipline members and national officers of the party for misconduct.
They argued that Abure, having been suspended by the NEC, cannot continue to present himself as the party’s national chairman.
When the case was presented in court, Anderson Asamota, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, stated that all defendants had been duly served.
However, one of the defendant’s lawyers argued that not all defendants had received the court papers.
This led to the judge adjourning the case until November 28 and ordering the originating summons and hearing notices to be served on all necessary parties.
