Julius Abure Ousted: What the Supreme Court Decision Means for Labour Party's Future

The ruling of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had previously upheld Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), has been overturned by Nigeria's Supreme Court.

A five-member panel of the highest court unanimously decided Friday that the appellate court lacked the authority to intervene in the party's leadership dispute.

The justices argued that the issue was solely an internal party matter, which courts had no business deciding.

Abure's claim to the national leadership of the Labour Party was essentially terminated by this ruling, which further strained the party.

The Court of Appeal had declared in January that Abure was still the National Chairman of the Labour Party prior to this Supreme Court ruling.

The appellate court dismissed an earlier court decision by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court that had previously declared Abure's position unlawful, reasoning that a political party's leadership was outside the purview of the legal system.

The Supreme Court has since overturned that ruling, reaffirming that internal party leadership disagreements cannot be settled by the legal system.

The battle for control of the Labour Party's leadership continues, and this most recent verdict has left the party in disarray.