The crisis over the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has taken a new turn as the formerly-elected Deputy Chairman of the party, Callistus Uju Okafor, has approached the Supreme Court with a request to declare him as the rightful National Chairman of the party.
Speaking to the press in Abuja, Okafor referred to the party’s constitution still acknowledging him as the substantive Deputy Chairman. He went further to state that his progression to become Chairman followed the death of then-Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, on December 29, 2020.
Okafor contests that his ouster as acting National Chairman after the death of Abdulsalami is illegal as there was a consent judgment that recognised his emergence. He now aims to take the matter to court and is requesting that the apex court recognises him as the LP National Chairman.
“I am the only acting National Chairman of the Labour Party. Every other person parading himself as such is fake. Lamidi Apapa and Abure are both fake,” he said.
Okafor further stated that Abure’s LP chairmanship claims are illegal, stating that based on the party’s constitution, the acting secretary of the LP cannot emerge as the Chairman. He has called on the Supreme Court to specifically declare all actions taken by Abure in his former capacity of the Chairman of the LP as null and void, especially in regards to the party’s participation in the 2023 general elections.
Okafor has called for a nullification of all conventions, special conventions, and primary elections conducted by the LP under Abure’s leadership, asserting that they are illegal, unconstitutional, null, void, and of no effect. In its place, he is seeking recognition as the party’s acting National Chairman, with all party membership lists to be under his purview.
Okafor had previously approached the Supreme Court in 2022 to challenge the Appeal Court’s validation of his dismissal as acting National Chairman of the LP, citing abuse of process. He has recently returned to the Supreme Court to amend his prayers before the apex court.
The amended suit, which references SC./CV/1379/2022, APPEAL NO.CA/ABJ/CV/702/2022 and SUIT NO FHC/AB3/CS/1636, further called for the court to stop those taking up unearned positions in the National Working Committee of the LP from continuing to do so. In addition, it referred to the Independent National Electoral Commission, among others, to recognise Okafor as the National Chairman of the LP.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the ongoing LP crisis will be, but the Supreme Court’s decision could be critical given the party’s place in Nigeria’s political landscape.
