INEC Declares Julius Abure No Longer Labour Party National Chairman

Nigerian Electoral Body INEC Says Julius Abure No Longer Labour Party Chairman, Cites Violations.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that Julius Abure is no longer recognized as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), stating that his claim to the position is “illegal and unconstitutional.”

According to INEC, Abure’s tenure, alongside the party’s national working committee, expired in June 2024.

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This statement from INEC came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Labour Party, which had challenged its exclusion from the commission’s refresher training for uploading party agents ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

In a counter-affidavit, INEC argued that the party’s leadership, including Abure, is invalid and that the party’s March 2024 National Convention, which saw his re-election, violated both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act.

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INEC, through its legal counsel led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Tanko Inuwa, emphasized that it only deals with parties with legitimate leadership in place.

It further stated that the Labour Party’s request for declaratory reliefs could not be granted based on admissions alone, stressing that the party needed to prove its case in court.

INEC argued that the Labour Party’s national convention failed to meet legal requirements, rendering the party’s leadership void. Consequently, the commission urged the court to dismiss the party’s lawsuit, maintaining that the Labour Party “is not entitled to the reliefs it is seeking.”

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Amidst these legal challenges, Julius Abure has denied allegations of embezzlement. In a previous press conference, he asserted that he had no direct involvement with campaign funds and that the Labour Party was not responsible for Peter Obi’s defeat in the 2023 general election.

According to Abure, the campaign funds were managed directly by Obi, with Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo serving as signatories to the accounts used for election donations and polling agent payments.

In a viral video posted on her official YouTube channel, Aisha Yesufu, the chairperson of the campaign fundraising team, criticized Abure’s statements, calling him “very shameless” for suggesting that polling unit agents were not paid.

She questioned the use of funds from party ticket sales and accused Abure of employing outdated tactics, highlighting that modern records and internet access make it harder for such actions to go unnoticed.