When Governor Alex Otti declared that the National Caretaker Committee, chaired by Esther Nenadi Usman, had formally received the Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the leadership crisis of the Labour Party last Friday, there was a flurry of excitement.
Otti noted that the 48-page CTC has ended the discussion over incorrect interpretations of the ruling when he presented it to the Labour Party Stakeholders Engagement in Abuja.
He said, “I want to say that we welcome the Supreme Court judgment of last Friday, which Certified True Copy just arrived a few minutes ago. The 48-page document was very clear in saying that it is all of you seated here that constitute the leadership of the party. I also want to make a point that we are law-abiding people.
“We sat on the 4th of September 2024 in Umuahia, where we unanimously elected a 29-man caretaker committee. Shortly after that exercise, our brothers, on the other side, went to court and got a judgment that pronounced them the leaders of the party.
“If we are not law-abiding, we would have started dragging the office. But we all said, since there was a court judgment, let us follow the process, which ended last Friday.
“We expected that everybody who wants the survival of democracy and the progress of this country would have accepted that judgment. So you may not like the judgment, but you must obey it.”
Peter Obi, the 2023 LP presidential candidate; Senator Victor Umeh, the representative of the Anambra Central Senatorial District; Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission; and Senator Darlington Nwokocha, the National Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, were present.
Members of the National Assembly, Abia State Assembly, Obidient Movement Worldwide chieftains, and former LP chieftain Kenneth Okonkwo are among the others.
The audience erupted in thunderous applause when Otti read out the document’s extracts.
He said, “The same issue submitted for determination is hereby jointly in favour of the appellants. The appellants are Distinguished Senator Esther Nenadi Usman and Senator Darlington Nwokocha. In summary, both the trial courts and the one below have no jurisdiction to entertain the first respondent, Julius Abure.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, the decisions of both trial courts and the one below in recognising Julius Abure as the national chairman of the party is hereby set aside and struck out for want of jurisdiction. In the vein, the first respondent’s cross-appeal, being an offshoot of the same judgment of the courts below, is hereby dismissed.”
The governor described how he attempted to persuade Abure to resign and take up the position of chairman of the LP Board of Trustees after he had completed reading the CTC.
Abure, however, reportedly rejected the idea, claiming he had no desire.
“But I gave Abure some piece of advice, saying if I were you, I wouldn’t want to lead people who don’t want me as a leader. So we are still extending the olive branch to him and his former National Working Committee. The leadership of every party should be humble enough to leave at the expiration of their tenure.
“Before I am done, may I appeal to political parties and their members to endeavour to always allow their constitutions, regulations and rules to guide them in choosing their officers and candidates.
“That way, the incessant internal wrangling which always finds its way to court will be reduced. The leadership of every party should be humble enough to leave at the expiration of their tenure,” he said.
Obi, on his part, commended Nigerians and his fans for their patience and unwavering support.
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The former governor of Anambra said that they will proceed directly to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s offices to inform them of the CTC’s presence and request that they take the place of Abure’s NWC.
He said, “As leaders and elected members of this great party, we are going to leave from here to INEC to submit this document (CTC) so that we can start the process.
“We will go there now and say, here are the documents from the court. This is our resolution. So can we now start the process of rebuilding with your cooperation.”
