Appeal Court Affirms Apapa As Labour Party Chairman

The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State capital, has ruled that Julius Abure should stop parading himself as the substantial National Chairman of the Labour Party.

In ita ruling on Thursday, the court affirmed Lamidi Apapa as the substantial Chair of the party at the national level.

The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a matter of urgency should recognise and publish the names of all the governorship candidates produced by the Apapa-led National Working Committee in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states.

Furthermore, the court struck out the governorship candidature of Senator Athan Achonu of Imo State, and others belonging to the Abure-led LP faction.

Recall that Apapa said, in April, that his suspension as a member of the party was invalid, noting that he remained the ‘legitimate acting chairman.’

As the party faced a leadership crisis, a Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, Edo State capital, affirmed Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, as was disclosed in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh.

In May, Apapa was reinstated by the court as the acting chairman of the party.

Prior to that, a State High Court sitting in Edo dismissed the notice of suspension issued against Abure by some party members at the ward level.

The judge, Justice Emmanuel Aihamoje, threw out the case for lacking merit.