…Says Commission’s Action Won’t Deter Party’s Performance In 2027
Julius Abure, former Labour Party national chairman, has vowed to challenge his ouster from office by the Federal High Court in Abuja
Recall that in the judgment Justice Peter Lifu said the leadership dispute within the Labour Party had already been conclusively settled by the Supreme Court in its April 4, 2025 ruling, which affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman, a former Minister of Finance, as head of the party’s caretaker committee pending the conduct of the next national convention.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, January 30, 2026, replaced Abure with Senator Usman in an updated list of political parties’ chairmen.
Consequently, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the Abure camp said INEC’s move “won’t deter its plans to put up a strong show in the 2027 general elections.”
Ifoh vowed that the camp will ensure that the judgment is overturned at the appellate court.
In a statement, Ifoh called on Nigerians to rise up against what he described as “the strangulation and monetisation of democracy in the country by a few power-drunks in Nigeria, warning that Nigeria may be heading for the precipice if the inordinate ambitions of some politicians are not checked.”
According to him, “Some persons who are applauding the impunity by some politicians should retrace and do some introspection because this was how in the past, they applauded injustice in our democracy because they were beneficiaries.
“At the end of the day when their enthroned leaders began to abuse power they started complaining.
“For us in the Labour Party, our faith is strong that the appellate court will do the right thing and therefore we advise our members to remain calm. We’ll continue with the struggle to take our party from the godfather.
“Labour Party is a party that is based on social democracy where no one man is permitted to appoint everybody.
“It’s against the principles of the party that one man will sit at a place and gather everybody and appoint everybody from the National Working Committee to the state, down to the ward executive.
“That’s the impunity of the highest order, this I believe negates the principles of the party. If we say there’s no party ideology in Nigeria, this is how it starts.
“We’re very sure that it’ll be quashed on appeal. The celebration of the Abia state governor, Alex Otti, Nenadi Usman and their cohorts on the appearance of their names on the INEC portal will be short-lived.
“It’s for a short time, their victory is pyrrhic and there’s nothing to celebrate because the doomsday is closer than they’ll imagine which I believe will be very catastrophic for them.
“Moreover, it’s very clear that the appointment of the caretaker committee didn’t go through the normal procedure. Proper notice wasn’t given in line with the party constitution and the electoral act.”
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