Labour Party Leader Abure Denies Usman’s Claims on INEC Deregistration
The leadership of the Labour Party, led by Julius Abure, has responded to comments made by Senator Nanedi Usman, who was recently appointed as interim chairperson by some party members.
Usman had claimed that her committee played a key role in preventing the party from being deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, Obiora Ifoh, the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, rejected this claim in a statement from Abuja. He called Usman’s remarks “ridiculous, unrealistic, baseless, and completely false.”
Ifoh stressed that the Labour Party is in good standing, following all legal requirements, and therefore faces no risk of deregistration by INEC.
He also accused some leaders of misleading INEC into thinking that the current leadership’s term had ended. Ironically, these leaders had previously criticized INEC for its poor handling of the 2023 elections but are now trying to use the commission’s position to undermine the party’s leadership.
Ifoh also described the September 4 meeting in Umuahia, which appointed Senator Usman as interim leader, as illegal and against the party’s constitution. He emphasized that the Labour Party’s constitution does not recognize any such “stakeholder” group, making their actions legally invalid.
The statement continued by dismissing Usman’s claim that her group saved the party from deregistration as absurd. Ifoh reminded everyone that courts in Edo state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have affirmed Julius Abure as the rightful National Chairman, and a Federal High Court in Abuja also validated the party’s national convention held in March 2024.
He concluded by stating that even the Supreme Court has ruled that matters regarding political party conventions are internal issues that courts have no authority over. Ifoh accused Senator Usman and her group of trying to pressure INEC to act in their favor, but stressed that INEC must follow the law.
