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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The controversy surrounding the purported suspension of the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, took a new dimension on Wednesday as Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) barred the chairman and three other national executive members from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
Justice Muazu issued the order against Abure; the National Secretary, Alhaji Farouk Ibrahim; National Organising Secretary, Mr Clement Ojukwu and one other.
The order was granted while ruling on an ex-parte application filed by Chief James Onoja (SAN), wherein he informed the court that the affected national officers allegedly forged several documents of the FCT High Court to carry out unlawful substitutions in the just concluded 2023 general elections.
According to him, such documents include receipts, seal and affidavits of the court, which he claimed the party officials used to carry out criminal activities.
Onoja, who tendered the alleged forged documents before the court, said that the Chief Registrar of the FCT High Court had written the Labour Party to disown several documents used for the alleged criminal activities by Abure and the three others.
The senior advocate told the court that following their indictment by police investigation, the four persons are to be arraigned in court with their arrest warrants already obtained.
Ruling, Justice Muazu held that the ex parte application and the supporting affidavits were sufficient enough for the request to be granted.
He subsequently ordered that the four persons should immediately stop parading themselves as national officers of the Labour Party.
Abure was last week suspended by the Labor Party ward executive in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State over allegations of forgery and anti-party activities.
The ward chairman, Martins Osigbemhe, accused Abure of illegally substituting candidates of the party in the general elections.
He added that the national chairman was suspended pending the determination of the numerous petitions and cases against him in the court.