Abure, Usman confront Amupitan with Labour Party’s crisis

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Less than 24 hours after assuming office, challenges in need of urgent solutions are already piling up for the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan. One of such challenges, unarguably is the intractable problem of leadership of Labour Party.

This emerged on Friday morning with a letter by Julius Abure, the factional National Chairman of Labour Party to Amupitan affirming his claims as the legally recognized leader of the party.

Abure, in a letter of congratulation to Amupitan published on the social media platforms of Labour Party told the new INEC Chairman that there is a pending order of the Court binding on INEC to recognize him as the leader of the party.

He added that while the former chairman of the Commission, Yakubu Mahmood failed to abide by the court order, May Agbamuche-Mbu who took over from him as acting chairman took steps to abide by the order.

He therefore urged Amupitan to abide by the court order recognising him as the Labour Party chairman.

Abure at INEC meeting

Recall that the Abure was one of the chairpersons of political parties invited by INEC to a consultative meeting of the commission presided over by Agbamuche-Mbu on Tuesday, 14th October 2025.

INEC had claimed that Abure was invited to the meeting following court order from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Gwagwalada directing it to recognize him as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

However, the Abure the faction of the party led by Nenadi had protested against the invitation of Abure to the meeting by INEC.

Indeed, the Nenadi Usman faction had called for the arrest of Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu over the invitation while accusing her of aiding Abure in foregery of court document in a statement signed by Ken Eluma Asogwa, Senior Special Adviser (Media) to the Interim National Chairman.

The Nenadi Usman faction claimed that its “independent and painstaking investigation has revealed that no such court order exists. While it is true that Mr. Abure filed a suit against INEC in Suit No: CV/1914/2025, before Hon. Justice Kayode Agunloye of Court 40, FCT High Court, Gwagwalada, our formal request for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of any order purportedly recognising him as Chairman was met with a categorical confirmation from the court that no such order was ever granted.

Although it would have still been null and void even if such order existed, especially in the face of the Supreme Court’s unambiguous judgment of 4th April 2025 which conclusively upheld Senator Nenadi Usman’s leadership of the Labour Party, it smacks of fraud, scant regard for our laws, meddlesomeness, and partisanship for Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu to have dragged INEC into this web of political criminal conspiracy to commit this judicial heist.”

Consequently, the Nenadi Usman faction of Labout party said it has directed its “supporters nationwide to begin immediate mobilisation for a peaceful occupation of INEC Headquarters until Mrs. Agbamuche-Mbu is arrested and prosecuted, and until INEC fully complies with the binding Supreme Court judgment affirming the leadership of Senator Nenadi Usman.”

The party also urged the new INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan to urgently address “this grave injustice and purge the Commission of the elements of destabilisation led by Mrs. Agbamuche-Mbu and her co-conspirators.”

Restore me as chairman of Labour Party

But Abure, in the letter to Amupitan on Friday insisted that his faction of the party has been recognized by court. Consequently, he also demanded that his faction of the party should be allowed to nominate candidates for the upcoming FCT local government elections

“We are however appealing to you to fully comply with several orders and judgements of the courts by directing the inclusion of the Labour Party in the up coming FCT council election by uploading the names of the party candidates.

“As a worker in the temple of justice and one known to have always respected the rule of law, we urge you to revisit this abnormally and restore recognition to the current leadership of the Labour Party as led by my humble self. This is because, the judiciary, which you are a prominent member has spoken loudly and clearly on both the position of the law on the political party leadership and the party supremacy.

Read Abure’s letter below to Amupitan below

STATEMENT FROM THE LABOUR PARTY

To: Prof. Joash Amupitan
Chairman
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
Abuja

Sir,

LETTER OF CONGRATULATION

May I personally and on behalf of the leadership and members of the Labour Party congratulate you on your well deserved appointment as the Chairman of INEC. Your appointment and elevation by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one that most Nigerians looked forward to, having followed your trajectory as a profound scholar, a legal luminary, a cerebral teacher and impactor of knowledge, an administrator of repute and a deeply religious person.

I joined millions of Nigerians a few days ago, glued to our television on the day of your screening, while you exhibited your mastery of the task ahead while also holding the entire Senate spellbound with your intellectual prowess on how to navigate the bedeviling and intractable challenges of election management in Nigeria, albeit with ease.

I must say that you came prepared to face the challenges and to help secure our fragile democracy. Nigeria craves for an umpire who is apolitical and whose past has testimonies of love for the nation. Nigerians need a strong willed umpire who will place the nation first and who will not succumb to cheap blackmail and little tricks by the politicians who will stop at nothing in pursuit of both their ordinate and inordinate cravings. I want to say that you earned your current status and that President Tinubu’s choice and fate in you is not in anyway misplaced.

Let me at this juncture appreciate the immediate past acting Chairman of the commission for chosing to right the very many wrongs of the past leadership of INEC and for swiftly remedying the glaring infractions perpetuated against the Labour Party.

I do not want to burden you with our challenges as this letter is purely congratulatory. However, I want to use this opportunity to remind you of a pending order of the Court binding on INEC to recognize the present leadership of the Labour Party as led by my humble self, Barrister Julius Abure but which for reasons known to the immediate past INEC leadership was disregarded but for which we are grateful that the Acting Chairman has remediated substantially.

We are however appealing to you to fully comply with several orders and judgements of the courts by directing the inclusion of the Labour Party in the up coming FCT council election by uploading the names of the party candidates. As a worker in the temple of justice and one known to have always respected the rule of law, we urge you to revisit this abnormally and restore recognition to the current leadership of the Labour Party as led by my humble self. This is because, the judiciary, which you are a prominent member has spoken loudly and clearly on both the position of the law on the political party leadership and the party supremacy.

I want to sincerely congratulate you for this wonderful elevation. May God crown your efforts and make your tenure in the commission truly glorious.

Once more, Congratulations.

Truly Yours,

Barrister Julius Abure
National Chairman
Labour Party

October 24, 2025