Julius Abure, the factional national chairman of the Labour Party, has stated that he is not responsible for reopening legal matters already settled by the Supreme Court, as he addressed ongoing disputes over the party’s leadership following recent court developments.
In an interview with Arise News, Abure made this assertion to counter allegations that he has continued to pursue litigation despite clear judicial pronouncements, explaining that the renewed legal battle was triggered by actions from the opposing faction led by Nenadi Usman, which returned to court to revisit issues previously resolved.
He explained that the Supreme Court had earlier ruled that leadership matters within a political party are internal affairs. He said his faction accepted that position and continued managing party activities without initiating further legal disputes. However, he noted that the conflict resurfaced when the Nenadi-led group approached the Federal High Court in November last year to restart the case.
Abure further explained that after the Federal High Court delivered its judgment, his faction responded by filing an appeal at the Court of Appeal as permitted under the law. He disclosed that following the appellate court’s decision, preparations were already in progress to approach the Supreme Court again for a final determination on the matter.
He maintained that his leadership should not be blamed for the lingering crisis in the party, emphasizing that all actions taken have followed due legal process.
In his words, “Well, I need to make it categorically clear here that I’m not the one that is re-litigating on what the Supreme Court has litigated upon.”
“We must make it also clear here that the Supreme Court, like you rightly said, made it abundantly clear that issues of leadership are internal affairs of the political party. And we rested the case, and we were functioning at the level of the party before Senator Nenadi Usma went back to the Federal High Court in November last year to start all over again and started the re-litigation.”