Labour Party Crisis: Abure Faction Threatens Lawsuit Against Usman Over Judiciary, INEC Remarks

The Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party (LP) has threatened to take legal action against the party’s Interim National Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, and two of her aides over alleged defamatory remarks against the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

National Publicity Secretary of the Abure faction, Obiora Ifoh, issued the warning in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, accusing Usman and her aides of overstepping their authority and attempting to discredit the courts and INEC.

The faction’s reaction followed an earlier statement from Senator Usman’s media team, which called for the arrest of Abure and the acting INEC Chairman, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, over alleged collusion to manipulate the outcome of the party’s leadership dispute.

Describing the statement as “a clear attempt to blackmail INEC and the acting Chairman of INEC for obeying a validly issued court order,” Ifoh said the remarks were designed “to embarrass the presiding judge and bring the court into public ridicule.”

He added, “Ms. Nenadi Usman, through her aide, Asogwa, had called for the arrest of Mrs. Agbamuche-Mbu for allegedly ‘criminally colluding with Barrister Julius Abure’ to perform her lawful duties in accordance with the laws guiding the electoral commission.”

Ifoh revealed that the faction had instructed its legal counsel to serve a notice on Asogwa, who is also a lawyer, demanding a retraction within 72 hours.

“Failing to do so, we will have no option but to petition him before the Nigerian Bar Association for describing a validly issued court order as fake,” he warned.

He further condemned Asogwa’s comments as an “attempt to bring the judiciary into disrepute,” stressing that such behavior was unbecoming of a legal practitioner.

“Lawyers are expected to argue their matters in court, not on social media,” Ifoh said. “Dragging the integrity of the court into the social space for political purposes is very unfortunate.”

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