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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has affirmed Senator Esther Nenadi Usman as the authentic National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognise the Caretaker Committee she leads as the party’s legitimate authority pending a national convention.
Delivering judgment, Justice Peter Lifu anchored the decision on the April 4, 2025 ruling of the Supreme Court, which nullified earlier judgments that had favoured the Julius Abure-led faction. The court held that Senator Usman, a former Minister of Finance, lawfully heads the Labour Party’s interim leadership structure.
The suit, marked THC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025, was instituted by Senator Usman against Julius Abure, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and INEC. Justice Lifu found that Abure’s tenure as national chairman had expired and rejected his argument that the dispute was a non-justiciable internal party affair. According to the court, the formation of the caretaker committee became unavoidable following the directive of the Supreme Court.
The leadership crisis within the Labour Party had earlier led the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to dissolve the Abure-led executive. To address the vacuum, an expanded stakeholders’ meeting convened in Umuahia, Abia State—hosted by Governor Alex Otti—set up a 29-member caretaker committee chaired by Senator Usman. The meeting was presided over by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
Unhappy with his removal, Abure had approached the Federal High Court seeking validation of his claim to the chairmanship. He argued that he emerged acting chairman in 2021 and was subsequently elected substantive chairman at the party’s national convention in Nnewi in March 2024, after NEC meetings monitored by INEC. He also cited the party’s participation in governorship elections under his leadership as proof of legitimacy.
Although Abure initially secured favourable rulings at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, those decisions were overturned by the Supreme Court. In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court held that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to determine issues bordering on internal party leadership.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Usman and the Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, describing it as meritorious, while dismissing the cross-appeal by the Abure faction for lacking substance. The apex court consequently reinstated the caretaker arrangement put in place by the NEC in September 2024 to oversee the party and conduct fresh leadership elections.
With Justice Lifu’s ruling, INEC is now compelled to formally recognise the Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee as the lawful leadership of the Labour Party.
