‘The Supreme Court Never Said Abure’s Tenure Expired’ – Arabambi

The National Vice Chairman (South West) of the Labour Party (LP), Abayomi Arabambi, has described the Federal High Court’s ruling removing Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman as a farce.

Naija News reports that Arabambi, during an interview on ARISE News, insisted that the judgment misrepresented the Supreme Court’s April 4 decision.

According to the LP chieftain, no lower court has the authority to interpret, vary, or expand a Supreme Court judgment, stressing that the apex court never declared that Abure’s tenure had expired.

He said, “The Honourable Justice Peter Lifu made an allusion to a statement from the Supreme Court judgement of April 4, where he allegedly said the Supreme Court affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman as leader of the Labour Party. That is a farce. It is not true.

“Section 235 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is very clear that no court, whether big or small, has the power to review or reinterpret the judgement of the Supreme Court except the Supreme Court itself.

“I am saying this clearly on international television: the Supreme Court never said Julius Abure was not validly elected. The Supreme Court never said his tenure expired.

“What Justice Lifu relied on was an admonition by the Supreme Court, not the operative dictum. The judge took what was clearly advisory and treated it as binding. That is not the law.”

Arabambi further alleged procedural irregularities, noting that the party has already filed an appeal and a motion for stay of execution.

He stressed, “Our preliminary objection challenging jurisdiction was not heard. INEC’s position was not fully considered. Up till today, we have not been given the Certified True Copy of that judgement, yet we were expected to appeal.

“We quickly filed our appeal. We also filed a motion for stay of execution because we know how these things work. The Labour Party will not be strangulated.”

Arabambi gave a detailed account of Julius Abure’s leadership timeline, insisting his tenure remains valid.

He added, “Julius Abure became National Secretary in 2019 and National Chairman in 2021. His tenure was due to expire in 2023, but because of ongoing litigation, the National Executive Council extended it by one year, which is within NEC’s constitutional powers.”

“A valid national convention was held in 2024 in line with Section 82 of the Electoral Act. INEC was duly notified. His tenure effectively commenced again in 2024. The Supreme Court did not say otherwise.”