The Labour Party (LP) has refuted reports that the Appeal Court fired Julius Abure and the rest of the party’s leadership.
It also insists that Senator Athan Achonu remains its governorship candidate in Imo State and was not sacked by the appellate court.
The LP also said that the dismissal of Mr. Basil Maduka’s petition by the Court of Appeal in Owerri was another devastating blow for the Lamidi Apapa-led group.
As a result, the LP urged its members, supporters, and the general public to separate themselves from the “falling and compromised members of the party,” who have been ejected from the party.
The party stated that Apapa’s team had misled the public, as contained in a statement released on Thursday by the LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh and made available to this newspaper.
INNONEWS had reported that there was tension and confusion at the Court of Appeal, Owerri, on Thursday which reportedly sacked Abure as National Chairman of the party, and in the same judgment recognized Lamidi Apapa as the National Chairman of the party.
It also reportedly ordered that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize and publish the names of all the governorship candidates produced by the Apapa led National Working Committee, NWC in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi States
“It is, therefore, important to state that neither the Federal High Court Owerri nor the Court of Appeal Owerri, which sat in Abuja today, made any orders in the matter other than for lack of locus standi against the plaintiff (Basil Maduka).” part of the statement stated
The party rather insisted that “the status quo remains with Senator Athan Achonu as the validly nominated candidate of Labour Party for 2023 Imo governorship election”.