A high-level delegation of the Labour Party (LP), led by presidential candidate at the 2023 polls, Peter Obi, and Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti, on Wednesday visited the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja to discuss key developments within the party.
The delegation also included the candidate of the party in the 2024 Edo Governorship election, Olumide Akpata and Chairman of the Party Caretaker Committee, Senator Nenadi Usman.
The LP delegation was received by INEC’s Acting Chairman, Sam Olumekun, and other National Commissioners.
It was gathered that INEC, Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was absent during the meeting, as he is currently in the Gambia attending the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions meeting.
Yakubu’s absence had raised concerns, especially amidst rumors that he had been sacked by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Kindly note, dear Colleagues, that National Commissioner Sam Olumekun mni is the Acting Chairman of INEC at the moment. The Hon Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has travelled to the Gambia to attend the ECONEC (ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions) meeting”, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi clarified.
During the visit, Otti formally presented a Certified True Copy of the recent Supreme Court judgment concerning the party’s leadership.
He noted that the meeting was aimed at fostering clarity, mutual understanding, and institutional alignment regarding the LP’s current structure.
Both parties engaged in discussions centered on enhancing collaboration and reinforcing democratic values.
Olumekun reaffirmed the Commission’s unwavering commitment to neutrality, transparency, and the rule of law in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
The Supreme Court had set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the LP.
In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the LP having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
It held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction and noted that Abure’s tenure had since expired.
The court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and one other and held that it was meritorious, before subsequently proceeding to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP for being unmeritorious.
However, in a swift reaction, Abure said that the Supreme Court insists that the lower courts should have declined jurisdiction and should not have made a pronouncement on the leadership of a political party and therefore struck out Senator Nenadi Usman’s appeal at the Appeal Court and the LP suit at the trial court.
The two feuding parties shortly after the Supreme Court ruling interpreted the judgement as favouring their sides of the divide on who is the authentic leader of the LP.
