Politics
Anambra South: Court Stops INEC From Issuing Certificate Of Return To Uzor
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court yesterday restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] from giving effect to the judgment of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] directing the commission to issue a certificate of return to Obinna Uzor as the Senator representing Anambra South.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo issued the restraining order after listening to submissions made by Counsel to Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, Charles Ndukwe.
The court ruled that the electoral body and the other defendants cannot proceed to comply with the order of the FCT High Court in defiance to the subsisting judgments of the National Assembly Elections Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed Senator Ubah as the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District at the National Assembly.
Justice Taiwo held that the Court of Appeal is the final court on issues pertaining to the declaration of Ubah as the duly elected Senator for Anambra South Senatorial District.
Politics
LP Crisis: Ex-NWC Member Dumps Dumps Abure Faction
Mr Ojukwu, who recently returned to the interim National Working Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, noted that the party had 34 elected members in the House of Representatives, eight Senators, and 80 members at the state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections.
“Now we lost all of them,” he said. “I don’t think we have as many as five members in the National Assembly.”
The former national officer of the LP talked to journalists in Abuja and said he chose to join the caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi-Usman because they are now the officially recognized leaders of the Party.
“I chose to work with the caretaker committee to help save the Labour Party, for the benefit of the party. I also want to use this chance to ask my colleagues at the national, state, and local government levels to come together and help rebuild our party.
“Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So I’ll reach out to all my friends in the other group to get together and work on making this party stronger again.
“The caretaker committee has formed a reconciliation committee. Let’s come together and talk so that we can restore the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”
Mr Ojukwu, who was part of the Julius Abure’s group, said there are no more factions in the LP.
He added, “There is a court ruling, and since it is valid, the right people are in the correct positions.”
He urged Barr Abure and others to drop the legal cases they have filed because they are not helping the party.
“Litigations are killing political parties”, he said. “They’ve seen many political parties disappear because of legal battles, and the Labor Party is losing support every day, which makes me feel sad.”
Mr Ojukwu said he did not think joining the Senator Nenadi-Usman’s NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group, describing himself as “the oxygen” of that faction.
“I’m with this group because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed,” he added.
