Apapa declares self LP national chairperson amid party's lingering leadership crisis

Lamidi Apapa has declared himself as the national chairman of the Labour Party, citing the recent judgement of the Supreme Court.

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Mr Apapa made the declaration at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, adding a new twist to the leadership crisis rocking the party.

The party’s leadership crisis has escalated since the Supreme Court judgement delivered on 4 April nullifying an earlier verdict that recognised Julius Abure as the party’s national chair.

Following the Supreme Court judgement, disputing parties have interpreted it to support preferred interests and persons asserting to be the legitimate chair of the party.

Mr Apapa, whose claim to the party’s leadership dates back to 2022, reasserted himself as the party’s chair on Wednesday, joining Mr Abure and Nenadi Usman, who have made similar declarations in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict.

Ms Usman came into the equation after she was appointed the party’s caretaker committee chair last year.

While claiming to be the chair of the Labour Party in the lead-up to the 2023 general elections, Mr Apapa antagonised the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi.

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He also made frantic efforts to thwart the case Mr Obi and the party filed in court to challenge the victory of President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Chairmanship assertions?

Renewing his claim to the party’s leadership on Wednesday, Mr Apapa announced that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as constituted as of 2022 would meet on Monday 14 April.

“Following the dismissal of the cross-appeal filed by the ousted former National Chairman Julius Abure, also by the Supreme Court on 4 April 2025, what this means is that all actions and decisions taken by Abure since 4 April 2023, are null and void,” Mr Apapa said.

He added, “Following the decision of the Supreme Court on setting aside all judgements that recognise the leadership of Julius Abure as National Chairman, I, Lamidi Apapa, the most senior deputy national chairman, and in consonance with our party constitution, Article 14 2(a)(b), hereby take over the running of the affairs of our great party with effect from today, Wednesday, the 9th day of April 2025, in an acting capacity, and Farouk Ibrahim as National Secretary. ”

Mr Apapa also announced a list of what he described as members of the party’s National Working Committee.

They are Deputy National Chairman NLC, Ladi Iliya; Deputy National Chairman TUC, Ayo Olorunfemi, National Secretary; Umar Ibrahim, National Legal Adviser; Oyelekan Akingbade, National Publicity Secretary; Abayomi Arabambi, and Oluchi Opara as National Youth Leader.

He also planned to zone the position of the party’s National Chairman to the North and National Secretary to the South.

”My leadership will also take proactive steps to resuscitate the moribund Board of Trustees and make it functional,” he said.

He added that the party’s NWC constituted as of 2022, will set in motion the conduct of Ward Congresses, Local Government Congresses, State Congresses, and National Convention, “where every member of the party shall have the right to participate, provided you are a financial member.”

Background

The Supreme Court, on Friday, 4 April, set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which recognised Mr Abure as the national chairperson of the Labour Party (LP).

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to have affirmed Abure as chairman of the LP since the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.

It held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction.

The court upheld the appeal filed against the judgement by Nenadi Usman, who was appointed the caretaker chairperson of the party in September 2024, and one other.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) had sacked the Mr Abure-led executive in September last year and appointed Ms Usman, a former Minister of Finance and ex-senator representing Kaduna South, to lead a 29-member caretaker committee and facilitate the election of a new party leadership within 90 days.

The Supreme Court held on Friday that Ms Usman’s appeal was meritorious, as it also dismissed the cross-appeal filed by the Mr Abure-led faction of the LP for lacking merit.

Earlier on 17 January 2025, the Court of Appeal ruled that its earlier decision in November 2024, recognising Mr Abure as the party’s chairman, remained valid and had not been overturned by any court.

Hamma Barka, who read the lead judgement, held that the appellate court did not consider the two separate appeals filed by the appellants since they centred on party leadership, on which the court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate.

He said anything done outside jurisdiction amounted to nullity.

The court voided the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered on 8 October 2024 on the grounds that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.

The party was founded in 2002 by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which was at the time the umbrella body for all Nigerian workers.

It made its first remarkable performance in a national election when it fielded former Anambra State Governor, Mr Obi, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , as its presidential candidate.

The party stunningly came third in the presidential election behind the PDP and the APC, which won the poll. It won in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and in 11 of the 36 states, ensuring for the first time since the advent of the Fourth Republic that no presidential candidate, including the winner, polled up 50 per cent of the vote.

The party also picked up an unprecedented number of seats in the National Assembly and some state Houses of Assembly, and won the Abia State governorship election.

But with the lingering crisis in the party and the allure of the ruling APC, some of its legislators have defected, making the chances of reenacting its 2023 sterling performance or surpassing it slimmer by the day.