LP Crisis: Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership not in dispute — Candidates’ Forum

LP Crisis: Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership not in dispute — Candidates’ Forum

By John Alechenu, Abuja

The Labour Party Candidates Forum (LPCF) has declared that the leadership of Senator Nenadi Usman as Interim National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) is not in dispute.

The forum stated that the Supreme Court judgment of April 4, 2025, which ruled that Barr. Julius Abure’s tenure as National Chairman had expired, paved the way for the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) to fill the vacant position.

Chairman of the Forum and the Labour Party’s 2023 Kogi State governorship candidate, Barr. Okeme Adejoh, made this known during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.

Adejoh commended the Supreme Court for what he described as a landmark judgment that ended months of leadership tussle caused by Abure’s refusal to vacate office.

“We commend INEC for its respect for the rule of law and for protecting the integrity of internal party democracy,” Adejoh said.

“We call on INEC to upload the names of Sen. Nenadi Usman as Interim National Chairman and Sen. Darlington Nwokocha as Interim National Secretary of the Labour Party, as duly appointed by the NEC to steer party activities ahead of the upcoming ward, local government, and state congresses, as well as the national convention.”

The LPCF congratulated Senators Usman and Nwokocha on their Supreme Court victory and praised their efforts in repositioning the party for success ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The forum, however, cautioned Julius Abure to stop distracting the party and to obey both the Supreme Court and Federal High Court judgments that removed him from office.

“The tenure of the former chairman and his team has expired. New leaders have been appointed to lead the party forward,” Adejoh added. “INEC is a regulatory umpire meant to serve political parties, not the other way around.”

He appealed to all aggrieved members of the party to end hostilities and cooperate with the new leadership in rebuilding the party.

Also speaking, the 2023 Ebonyi State governorship candidate and Secretary of the Forum, Comrade Oko Eze, urged Abure and his supporters to respect judicial pronouncements.

“Judgments of Nigerian courts are meant to be obeyed. I’m not surprised that Julius Abure has refused to comply with the Supreme Court judgment that removed him,” Eze said.

“In my case, I won judgments against Abure at the Federal High Court, the Court of Appeal, and finally at the Supreme Court, yet he refused to comply. When court judgments are ignored, what follows is autocracy and tyranny — Nigeria cannot afford that.”

Eze reiterated that Abure’s tenure had long expired, adding that his initial emergence as chairman in 2019 was based on the goodwill of the former chairman.

“From 2019 to 2025, his tenure has long expired. Both the Supreme Court and the Federal High Court have affirmed this. We wish him well in his future endeavors, but as far as the Labour Party is concerned, his time is over,” he stated.

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