A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declared the national caretaker committee of the Labour Party led by Nenadi Usman as the authentic leadership of the party.
Gatekeepers News reports that the court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise the Usman-led committee as the lawful authority of the Labour Party.
Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Peter Lifu held that the leadership tussle within the party had already been settled by the Supreme Court. He explained that the apex court had earlier nullified the decision of the Court of Appeal which favoured the Julius Abure-led faction. According to the judge, evidence before the court clearly showed that Abure’s tenure as national chairman had expired.
The case was filed by Nenadi Usman, a former minister of finance, against Julius Abure and the Nigeria Labour Congress. In his ruling, Justice Lifu stressed that INEC is bound by the decision of the Supreme Court and must act in line with the latest position of the law on the party’s leadership.
Labour Party has been engulfed in a prolonged leadership crisis since 2023, with two major factions laying claim to the party’s national structure. One faction was led by Abure, while the other was headed by the caretaker committee chaired by Usman.
The crisis created divisions within the party and affected its internal administration. Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, aligned with the Usman-led faction before recently moving to the African Democratic Congress as part of preparations by opposition figures for the 2027 elections.
The leadership dispute can be traced to April 2023, when a Federal Capital Territory High Court restrained Abure from presenting himself as national chairman. Following that order, Lamidi Apapa, then deputy national chairman, briefly assumed leadership.
Although the Court of Appeal later voided that restraining order, fresh controversies emerged after Abure was re-elected at the party’s national convention in Newi, Anambra State, in March 2024. INEC, however, declined to recognise the convention, stating that it did not monitor the exercise.
In September 2024, a 29-member caretaker committee chaired by Nenadi Usman was constituted after a stakeholders’ meeting convened in Umuahia by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.
While a Federal High Court judgment in October 2024 initially affirmed the Abure-led leadership, the legal tide shifted in April 2025 when the Supreme Court set aside the appeal court ruling and declared that Abure’s tenure had elapsed.
With the latest judgment, the Abuja Federal High Court reaffirmed the position of the Supreme Court, effectively bringing legal backing to the Usman-led caretaker committee and directing INEC to reflect this decision in its official records.
