Yesterday, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, expressed interest in seeking an interpretation of the two court rulings pertaining to the position of Barrister Julius Abure, national chairman of the Labour Party.
Remember that a court of similar authority, the FCT High Court, issued an interim injunction preventing Abure from acting as the party chairman, while a Benin High Court issued an order prohibiting anyone from removing the embattled party chairman.
The National President of the NLC and trustee member of the Labour Party, Joe Ajaero, said Abure still held the title of party chairman in an interview with Vanguard in Abuja.
According to the Benin High Court’s order, Abure is still the chairman, he claimed, and the FCT High Court’s decision was only a temporary injunction that might be revoked at any time.Ai: How Ai Affecting The Future Of Medical Science
The visit to the Labour Party national secretariat in Abuja that the NLC President had intended to make on Monday has been postponed due to other commitments.22 Top Foods For Promoting Heart Health(All You Need to Know)
NLC chief claims that the Acting National Chairman, Lamido Bashir Apapa, who previously held the position of the party’s National Vice Chairman, South, was paid to scuttle the legal case at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
He characterized as undemocratic the seizure of the chairmanship of the party.How To Develop A Good Work Ethic(Vision 2023)
“Assuming the court has removed the substantive chairman,” he asserted,
“there will be a notice of meeting and we will get the court ruling or the order which will enable us to know whether it is an emergency situation to call for a meeting and the circular will go out for meeting.
“The decision to replace him may be made during the meeting, but an interim order does not imply that the chairman has been fired permanently. Additionally, the person is aware of the interim order if it existed and someone declared themselves the new leader before the 24-hour mark.
“We don’t run our organization that way, so the person is not from our fold and can’t parade himself anywhere, and does not represent us.”
If there is the need for us to remove our chairman, under administrative rule, we decide who should be our chairman without prejudice to the position of a court or trying him on any offence, even if he is removed permanently, we sit down and decide who takes over.
He further stated
“Somebody can’t tell me he is the (acting) chairman of the Labour party, it is insulting. So we have to say you are our chairman and not for you to announce yourself. So it is so absurd and the people doing that should be properly examined.”
“Even if the party executive is to be dissolved, those of us who are trustees of the party will be the last people to be held accountable, which is why I told you that I have the certificate,” Comrade Ajaero continued.
The Labour party was founded by the labor movement and differs from other political parties in that it is open to other Nigerians joining, which is exactly what is happening.
Therefore, nobody can appear out of nowhere and declare themselves to be our leader. We pick our own leader.
When asked if his stance implied that anyone serving as party leader right now save Abure is not recognized by the labor movement, which owns the Labour party, he responded:
“Abure remains the chairman, though there are two orders which need interpretation. An order from Benin High Court and another order from the FCT High Court.
“The two rulings from Benin and FCT are interim arrangements until the substantive matter comes up before the court.”
“We need further interpretation to decide if deputies should cover duties not taken over.
“However, to argue there are two orders is equivalent to declaring the status quo is still in place.
“If we don’t seek this further interpretation and somebody pronounces himself as a new leader, the person should be arrested and be prosecuted. After all this when we will know whether the person is a member of the party or not.”
On whether the Labour party movement will approach the court on the interpretation, he said
“The same court will equally give us a further explanation on their pronouncement.
We will find out whether the FCT High Court will have the capacity to set aside the pronouncement of the Benin High Court because to me these are courts of cognate jurisdiction.
“If you take the position of Benin High Court, Abure is still there, if you take the other one, Abure is restrained from performing his functions until the court meets.”
” he hasnt lost his position as chairman of the Labour party, even if he is prevented from carrying his duties.
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