Abure dismisses Appeal Court judgment, LP says his name not mentioned in verdict
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Julius Abure has dismissed as “fake news” the reported judgment of the Owerri Court of Appeal which sacked him as Labour Party (LP) Chairman and invalidated all the off-cycle governorship primaries conducted under his watch.
The court was moved from Owerri to Abuja for security reasons.
It also reportedly ordered on Thursday the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognise and publish the names of all the governorship candidates in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi produced by LP National Working Committee (NWC) led by Lamidi Apapa.
Abure’s reaction
“It is nothing but fake news. Let me send you our official reaction to the report. Senator Athan Achonu is our [governorship] candidate [in Imo]. The lower court said it has no jurisdiction to look at the case ab initio and that the status quo should remain,” Abure told The PUNCH.
“But why we even went on appeal was that after the court had denied jurisdiction, the Judge went ahead to make a few comments. It was on the basis that we didn’t want anybody to capitalise on it by challenging it.
“The court today now said the appeal was unnecessary because it has denied jurisdiction. That was what they said. So neither the Federal High Court nor the Appeal Court was in their [respondents’] favour. But we know they are used to carrying propaganda and so on.”
LP National Secretary Umar Farouk reiterated there was no mention of Abure in the ruling of the Court of Appeal.
“That report was wrong. There was nowhere in the ruling where Abure was mentioned. Nothing was in the judgment. Somebody somewhere just twisted the judgment. It is wrong,” Farouk said.
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Apapa’s reaction
After the judgment on Thursday, Apapa insisted before journalists that the verdict reaffirmed Abure was not the authentic LP Chairman when the primaries were conducted, according to The PUNCH.
He stressed the Federal High Court order restraining Abure from parading himself as the LP Chairman has not been vacated.
Said Apapa: “The Edo State matter more or less has to do with civil matters. The Excos in Edo suspended him and they went to court because of that, and they don’t have the right to suspend him. I’m talking about the ward level.
“But the FCT [Court] restraining order has to do with criminal matters and is between the state and Abure and nobody is above the law. That’s the difference between a civil matter and a criminal matter.
“The order of the FCT [Court] has not been vacated and that is why on the basis of that the Appeal Court reaffirmed that by the time he [Abure] conducted his primaries, the restraining order was in place and up till today the order is still in force. That’s the difference between the two.”
Apapa said he is ready for reconciliation but that LP presidential candidate Peter Obi acted against the court judgment during the party’s council election mega rally in Benin City on Monday.
“From the look of things, you will also agree with me that the day before yesterday, our principal and Abure went to Owerri despite the court order against them that … Ikenga was the right person for Imo State,” he added.
“He [Obi] went ahead and raised up somebody’s hands, somebody who had been asked not to go ahead by the judgment of Imo State.
“Today, it has also been reaffirmed by the Appeal Court. I don’t know what he will do again, whether he will reaffirm that again.”