A factional Executive Committee of Lagos State chapter of Labour Party (LP) under the leadership of Adesoyin Olumide, yesterday, stated that the tenure of the Dayo Ekong-led executive has expired, urging her to stop parading herself as the state chairman.

Olumide, in an exclusive chat with The Guardian, hinted that the national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, remains under a court order of the High Court and Court of Appeal to step aside.

In a notice of appeal filed on July 14, 2023 sighted by The Guardian, Abure and others had approached the Supreme Court stating that they weren’t satisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal in Benin City contained in the ruling of Justice Theresa Ngolika Orji JCA, Fatima Omoro Akinbami JCA and Justice Sybil Nwaka-Gbagi dated July 10, 2023.

Abure, therefore, asked the Supreme Court to set aside the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and High Court, both in Benin, Edo State, which ordered his removal as the party’s national chairman.

In the document, he faulted the lower court for categorising issues of leadership of political parties as particularly being a pre-election matter as against the provisions of Section 254 (14) of the 4th alteration of the 1999 Constitution No. 21 Act of 2017.

The appeal court sitting in Benin in a judgment delivered by Justice Orji on July 10 maintained that the ruling of the lower court on the suspension of Abure by members of his ward was valid.

A ward in the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party had in March this year suspended Abure over alleged anti-party activities.

But the embattled national chairman had since approached various courts for his reinstatement, the last of which was the Court of Appeal in Benin, which maintained the status quo.

Olumide, therefore, wondered why Abure approached the Supreme Court to set aside the ruling of the lower courts if he had been reinstated as people were made to believe.

He maintained that in the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, presided over by the acting National Chairman, Lamidi Apapa and acting National Secretary, Saleh Lawan, Dayo Ekong and others were suspended for “anti-party activities and unruly behaviour against the party leadership which include issuing statement without authority of the party.”

Olumide urged members of the public to desist from having any dealings with Ekong, adding that the sale of forms for the bye-election in Surulere constituency has started.

Reacting to the development, Ekong, in a statement by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Olubunmi Odesanya, described Olumide and his faction as impostors.

“The general public should disregard Olumide’s claim because neither the party’s constitution nor the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognises them.”