NLC to seek interpretation of court rulings on LP chairman

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) said on Sunday it would seek an interpretation of the two court rulings on the position of the Labour Party national chairman, Julius Abure.

The Federal High Court, Benin, had earlier issued a restraining order prohibiting anyone from dismissing the LP chairman, while the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court granted an interim order restraining Abure from acting as the party chairman.

The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, who addressed journalists in Abuja however insisted that Abure remains the party chairman.

He stressed that the lawyer remains the LP chairman by virtue of the Federal High Court order.

The NLC president argued that the FCT High Court’s decision was only a temporary judgment that might be overturned at any time.

Ajaero is also a trustee member of LP.

He said: “Abure remains the chairman, though there are two (court) orders which need interpretation. We are talking about the order from Benin High Court and another order from the FCT High Court.

“The one from Benin is an order that says nobody should remove him, the other one from the FCT says he has been removed. Sorry, it is an interim order on him until the substantive matter comes up before the court. So it is an interim arrangement.

“So, if you look at these two, we can only ask for further interpretation on the implications of these two rulings to enable us to take a further decision whether we want any of the deputies or whatever to cover duties not to take over from him within this period of the interim order.”

Ajaero also alleged that the LP Acting National Chairman, Lamido Bashir Apapa, who prior to the crisis served as the party’s National Vice Chairman, South, was being sponsored to stall the court case at the presidential election petition tribunal.

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He described as undemocratic the seizure of the LP chairmanship by forces outside the party.

“Assuming the court has removed the substantive chairman, there will be a notice of meeting and we will get the court ruling or the order which will enable us to know whether it is an emergency situation to call for a meeting and the circular will go out for a meeting.

“And then in the meeting we may decide to replace him but an interim order does not mean that a chairman has been removed permanently. And if there was an interim order and before 24 hours somebody announced himself as the new leader, the person knows about that interim order.

“We don’t run our organization that way, so the person is not from our fold and can’t parade himself anywhere, and does not represent us. If there is the need for us to remove our chairman, under the administrative rule, we decide who should be our chairman without prejudice to the position of the court or trying him on any offence, even if he is removed permanently, we sit down and decide who takes over.

“Somebody can’t tell me he is the (acting) chairman of the Labour Party, it is insulting. So we have to say you are our chairman and not for you to announce yourself. So it is so absurd and the people doing that should be properly examined,” the NLC president concluded.

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