Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has slammed the former National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, over the continued sale of governorship nomination forms to aspirants despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s opposition to his leadership.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Otti’s outburst follows a photograph showing Abure presenting the Labour Party nomination form to a former National Vice Chairman of the party, Ceekay Igara, alongside other party members.
Confirming receipt of the forms, Igara, in an interview with journalists, said the move was part of ongoing preparations ahead of pending judicial determinations affecting the party.
According to Igara, stakeholders were acting cautiously to avoid a vacuum in the event of a final court decision on the party’s leadership tussle.
He said, “We have two matters, one at the Supreme Court and the other at the Federal High Court. If we say Abure should be docile, all the 33 states that conducted congresses will just go into extinction. If the Supreme Court later gives him the structure and primaries have closed, what happens?”
However, Governor Otti, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Ukoha Ukoha, in an interview with PUNCH, questioned Abure’s authority to continue parading himself as the National Chairman after a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that Senator Nenadi Usman was the interim leader of the Labour Party before the convention.
Ukoha said Abure is acting against subsisting judicial pronouncements, stressing that the Labour Party had already moved on from his leadership.
According to the Governor’s aide, INEC could not legitimately monitor any electoral process conducted under Abure’s authority, and that the electoral body had already aligned with the court-backed leadership structure.
He stated, “I think Abure is in a better position to explain the grounds on which he is still parading himself after a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that senator Nenadi Usman was the interim leader of the Labour Party before the convention. So, the party has moved on. INEC has also complied with the directive of a competent court of jurisdiction. That is contempt of court on the part of Julius Abure.
“It is up to Abure to explain to Nigerians why he is issuing nomination forms against the order of a competent court.”