The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recognised Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Checks revealed that INEC has updated its website to reflect these names in relation to both political parties.
The commission also listed Umar Farouk Ibrahim as the National Secretary of the Labour Party.
INEC said the update of the Labour Party officials was “based on an order of court,” but did not state if a similar court order led to the recognition of Anyanwu for the PDP.
The Supreme Court had last month overturned earlier rulings by the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which earlier removed Abure from his position as LP chairman.
The apex court said the case was an internal party matter, and not for the courts to decide.
Since then, Abure has continued to claim leadership of the party, insisting that the judgment which confirmed his chairmanship was not for the courts to decide.
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti had last month submitted a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court ruling to INEC which he said
was to promote “clarity, mutual understanding, and institutional alignment regarding the LP’s current structure.”
The governor and the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, supported a Caretaker Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman.
They argued that the Supreme Court’s decision translated to the removal of Abure as the LP’s chairman.
A source at INEC revealed that Abure’s name was restored after the commission studied the CTC of the judgment, saying the Supreme Court did not rule on the main issue, but only stated that the lower courts had no power to hear the case.
The source said the ruling meant that the situation returned to how it was before the court cases — the “status quo ante bellum.”
In a similar judgment, the Supreme Court also reversed the lower court decisions that had removed Senator Anyanwu as the PDP secretary. Before the ruling, there had been a leadership dispute between Anyanwu and Mr Sunday Ude-Okoye, who was backed by some PDP governors.
Again, the apex court ruled that the case was an internal party matter and that the lower courts “had no jurisdiction to have entertained the matter ab initio.”