The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest and prosecute the immediate past National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, over what it described as continued impersonation and defiance of subsisting court judgments on the party’s leadership.
In a statement signed on Wednesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA said the call followed recent rulings of the Federal High Court and the Supreme Court, which it noted had unequivocally removed the Abure-led National Working Committee and affirmed the leadership of the Senator Nenadi Usman–led caretaker committee.
The rights group cited a judgment delivered on Wednesday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which recognised Senator Nenadi Usman as the authentic head of the Labour Party’s caretaker committee. The court consequently ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Usman-led committee as “the only valid authority to represent the Labour Party,” pending the conduct of a national convention.
HURIWA noted that the judgment arose from a suit marked THC/ABJ/CS/2262/2025, filed by Senator Usman, and reaffirmed the Supreme Court’s decision of April 4, 2024, which invalidated the Abure-led executive of the party.
According to the group, the Federal High Court dismissed Abure’s argument that the leadership dispute was an internal party affair and therefore non-justiciable, holding instead that the constitution of a caretaker committee was a necessity flowing from the apex court’s verdict.
“HURIWA commends the Federal High Court for restating the final and binding verdict of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which categorically removed Mr. Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party,” HURIWA said.
The civil rights organisation recalled that following a protracted leadership crisis within the Labour Party, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) resolved to remove Abure and subsequently constituted a 29-member caretaker committee chaired by the former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman.
HURIWA expressed concern that despite the Supreme Court ruling and its reaffirmation by the Federal High Court, Abure allegedly continued to parade himself as the party’s national chairman, a development it described as a blatant affront to the rule of law and judicial authority.
The group warned that failure to enforce court judgments could undermine Nigeria’s democracy and weaken opposition politics, cautioning against what it described as a drift towards a de facto one-party state.
“HURIWA does not understand why a person directly affected by a decision of the Supreme Court would be allowed to continue to dance around the considered judgment of the apex court,” the statement said, adding that the continued leadership claims by Abure amounted to contempt of court.
The organisation therefore urged the Nigeria Police Force to carry out its constitutional responsibility by enforcing the judgments, including removing Abure from the Labour Party’s national secretariat if necessary.
“It is a matter of honour and law. If the Nigeria Police truly operates under the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Police Act of 2020, then the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgment should be non-negotiable,” HURIWA stated.
The group also called on INEC to formally write to the IGP, requesting enforcement of the judgments in order to sanitise the polity and end the lingering leadership crisis within the Labour Party.
HURIWA stressed that the continued defiance of court orders, if unchecked, could erode public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law, urging authorities to act swiftly in the interest of justice and political stability.
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