Supreme Court Did Not Declare Abure’s Tenure Ended

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The National Vice Chairman (South West) of the Labour Party (LP), Abayomi Arabambi, has criticised the recent Federal High Court ruling that removed Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman, describing the judgement as misleading and legally flawed.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, Arabambi argued that the decision wrongly interpreted the Supreme Court’s April 4 verdict, insisting that the apex court never ruled that Abure’s tenure had elapsed.

According to the LP leader, no lower court has the constitutional authority to reinterpret, amend, or expand upon a Supreme Court judgement, stressing that such powers rest exclusively with the apex court.

He said Justice Peter Lifu wrongly referenced the Supreme Court’s ruling, alleging that it affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman as the leader of the Labour Party.

“That claim is completely false. It is a distortion of the Supreme Court’s judgement. Section 235 of the 1999 Constitution is explicit that only the Supreme Court can review or clarify its own decisions,” Arabambi stated.

“I want to make this very clear: the Supreme Court never said Julius Abure was unlawfully elected, nor did it declare that his tenure had expired. What the trial judge relied upon was merely an advisory remark, not the binding part of the ruling. Treating such commentary as law is a fundamental legal error,” he added.

Arabambi also raised concerns over procedural lapses in the court process, revealing that the party has already filed an appeal and a motion seeking a stay of execution of the ruling.

“Our preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction was ignored. INEC’s submissions were not adequately addressed. Up till now, we have not received the Certified True Copy of the judgement, yet we were expected to proceed with an appeal,” he said.

“Despite these challenges, we promptly filed our appeal and a motion for stay of execution. We understand how these matters unfold, and the Labour Party will not allow itself to be strangulated,” Arabambi added.

Providing a detailed timeline of Julius Abure’s leadership, Arabambi maintained that Abure’s tenure remains legally valid.

He explained that Abure assumed office as National Secretary in 2019 before becoming National Chairman in 2021. Although his initial tenure was set to expire in 2023, ongoing legal disputes led the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) to extend his term by one year, a move he said was within the NEC’s constitutional authority.

“A properly constituted national convention was held in 2024 in full compliance with Section 82 of the Electoral Act, and INEC was duly informed. His tenure was therefore renewed in 2024, and the Supreme Court did not issue any ruling to the contrary,” Arabambi concluded.

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