The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party (LP) has ratified the party’s Nnewi, Anambra State convention, preparing grounds for congresses at ward, local government and state levels.
The NEC meeting was presided over by Julius Abure, National Chairman of the party yesterday at the party secretariat in Abuja.
It was attended by members of the National and State Working Committees from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, and other stakeholders including the former Vice Presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general election, Dr. Yusuf Baba Datti-Ahmed and a team of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by Rakiya Dattijo of the Election and Party Monitoring (EPM) department.
The NEC discussed the state of the party and plans for the future.
In a communiqué signed by Abure and National Secretary, Umar Ibrahim, the party resolved among other things to uphold the outcome of the 2024 Nnewi National Convention which NEC said was in line with the Supreme Court decision which vested the party powers to decide on its leadership as part of its internal affairs.
The communiqué read in part: “The NEC in session notes and recalls vividly the following Supreme Court pronouncements:
“The reason for the non-justiciability of internal disputes of a political party is simple, and that is that in the eyes of the law, a political party is a corporate entity with its constitution, rules, regulations, and guidelines which are binding on members who have joined freely have consented to be so bound (See Abegunde Vs. Ondo State House of Assembly & Ors. (2025) LPELR-24588 (SC).)
“Political Parties have put in place diverse kinds of internal dispute resolution mechanisms to handle any matter arising from disputes among members.
“Political parties and their members should therefore have faith in the internal dispute resolution mechanisms prescribed in their party constitution.
“Having subscribed to the membership of a Political party, a member of a Political party has by his membership agreed to be bound by the constitution and the decision of the party contained in its guidelines.
“So the Politician must comply with the provisions of the party constitution on how disputes over the internal affairs of the party can be resolved in keeping with the legal doctrine that the internal affairs of a Political party are non-justiceable and therefore not subject to the judicial powers of the courts..
“Consequent upon the above, NEC in session reaffirmed those elected as National officers of the Party at the National Convention held in 2024 in Anambra State on the 27th of March 2024.”
Those elected were the current 17 member National Working Committee which has Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Farouk as National Secretary, Chief Clement Ojukwu, Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi and Dr Esther Gulmu (Deputy National Chairmen) and Obiora Ifoh as National Publicity Secretary among others.
