Barring a favourable decision from the team of lawyers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) studying the Supreme Court judgment that sacked National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, the party’s candidate in Anambra State, George Moghalu, may be disqualified from the race.
An impeccable source, who wished to remain anonymous at this stage, told our correspondent that a team of lawyers is studying the Supreme Court judgment to advise the commission wisely on the issue.
The source said, “By virtue of the Supreme Court’s verdict, any primary election conducted by any executive outside the one led by Senator Nenadi Usman will not stand.”
The source added, “Usman and her team have since submitted the judgment to INEC and are awaiting feedback from the electoral body.”
On April 4, 2025, the Supreme Court removed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had recognized Abure as the party’s national chairman.
The apex court held that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to make such a declaration, given that the substance of the case concerned the internal leadership of the party.
The court emphasized that matters relating to party leadership are internal affairs, over which the judiciary has no jurisdiction.
However, George Moghalu, who was sponsored by the Abure-led Labour Party, emerged as the party’s governorship candidate a day after the court’s decision.
Consequently, a faction of the Labour Party (LP) in the state, loyal to Senator Nenadi Usman, Peter Obi, Alex Otti and others held a factional primary election and elected Jude Umejiego as their governorship candidate.
An aspirant, Mr. John Nwosu, had pulled out of the primary that elected Moghalu, citing irregularities and incompetence on the part of the Julius Abure-led party.
Nwosu instead contested against Hon. Jude Umejiego and lost, with Umejiego polling 180 votes to Nwosu’s 69.
The Acting Chairman of the electoral committee, Amb. Sunday Okereke, declared the results, saying, “With the powers conferred on me by the Electoral Act 2022 and the guidelines of our party, I hereby declare and return Hon. Jude Umejiego as the duly elected candidate of the Labour Party for the November 8, 2025, election.”
Interestingly, a recent publication by INEC recognized Moghalu as the candidate of the Labour Party for the November 8 poll in the state.
