Abure and other LP officers’ suspension order lifted by court

On Friday, Julius Abure, the chairman of the Labour Party, and others were suspended by Justice Hamza Muazu of a High Court in Abuja.

Others refrain from posing as LP national officials, including the National Organizing Secretary, Mr. Clement Ojukwu, and the National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara.

Martins Esikpali John, Lucky Shaibu, Isah Zekeri, Omogbai Frank, Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef, John Elomah, and Dr. Ayobami Arabambi are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

They had requested the dismissal of Abure and the other three national officers of the party in an ex-parte action with the file number M/7082/2023, and the judge had issued the suspension order.

The ruling for stay of execution pending the outcome of the defendants’ appeal was approved by the judge after hearing arguments from the parties.

On April 5, Justice Muazu had ordered a temporary injunction preventing Abure, Ibrahim, the party’s national organizing secretary, Mr. Clement Ojukwu, and national treasurer, Oluchi Opara, from misrepresenting themselves as LP national executives.

This was stated in an ex-parte application filed before the court by the eight plaintiffs and designated M/7082/2023.

The defendants informed the court today at the hearing that they currently have an appeal filed with the court.

The judge ordered a suspended stay after hearing a lot of arguments from the parties.

After Justice Muazu issued an ex-parte injunction on April 5 to halt Abure, Ibrahim, and two other national party officials, Alex Ejesieme, SAN claimed on April 20 that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

The senior attorney had argued that the case at hand touched on Labour Party internal matters and that the criminal claims brought by the plaintiffs in the case could not be addressed in an originating summons.

The eight plaintiffs who filed the issue before the court, he said, were not part of the party’s National Executive Council and lacked locus standi to do so.

According to Ejesieme, “Our contention is very clear that those criminal allegations cannot be ventilated in an origination summon.

“The issue of locus standi is there. When you referred to LP’s constitution, the claimants are not members of NEC or the party.

“They have a duty to present their membership cards to the court which they didn’t.”

Attorney for the plaintiffs, Mr. George Ibrahim, requested that the court dismiss the preliminary objection made by the attorney for Abure.

He claimed that the first through fourth defendants were still posing as national officers of the LP and had not yet complied with the court’s decision from April 5.

With the court’s decision that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter, its order from April 5 is still in effect.

The judge then set the hearing for today to hear the main argument.

Through their attorney, Ogwu Onoja SAN, the plaintiffs had previously informed the court that Abure and the three other national officials were accused of forging several FCT High Court documents, including receipts, seals, and affidavits, to conduct illegal substitutions in the most recent general election.

The four individuals, according to Onoja, must be arraigned in court after being charged as a result of the police investigation, adding that arrest warrants have already been acquired.