The factional chairman of the Labour Party, Lamidi Apapa has appealed the Appeal Court ruling reinstating Julius Abure as the national chairman of the party.
Addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital on Sunday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party loyal to Apapa, Abayomi Arabambi, said the party has obtained a stay of execution in respect of the judgement.
It would be recalled that an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on March 6, 2024, reinstated Abure as the national chairman of Labour Party, saying that the High Court erred to have restrained him from parading himself as the national chairman of the party.
Reading the unanimous judgement, Justice Harmman Barka, said the High Court lacked jurisdiction to have listened to the matter at the first instance, describing the matter as purely an internal party issue, thereafter dismissing it in its entirety and awarding a cost of N1 million against Apapa.
But addressing newsmen on Sunday in Abeokuta, Arabambi faulted the ruling and said that the party had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court and had gotten a stay of execution order.
“The Acting National Chairman of Labour Party, Alhaji Bashiru Lamidi Apapa has successfully filed an appeal on the 6th day of March 2024, and has stayed the execution of the judgement delivered in favour of Julius Abure by an Abuja Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court through a motion for stay of execution filed on Thursday the 7th day of March 2024,” he said.
Arabambi alleged that “Julius Abure had earlier before today forged the seal of the judge of FCT, forged the Commissioner of Oath signatures and generated his own TSA receipts without making any payment to Federal Government consequently upon which the police established a prima facie case against him for forgery, criminal conspiracies and perjury.
“You would also recall that on the 12th May, 2023, the FCT High Court presided over by Hon. Justice Hamza Mua’zu dismissed the Notice of Preliminary Objection filed by Abure and others challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the Originating Summons filed by Martins Esikpali & Ors basically on the ground that there was an allegation of crime and that it’s a contentious issues in the said summons and as such, not suitable for Originating Summons which inherently meant that the case ought to have been commenced by Writ of Summons so that oral evidence can be taken.
“As stated earlier the said objection was dismissed as the court held that it has jurisdiction as the case has to do with construction of documents submitted before it simpliciter without more.
“Abure and 3 ors then appealed to the Court of Appeal.
“Therefore, the issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the issues raised in the case were contentious or not. If the court says the case was contentious, all that the court was required to do was to ask parties to convert the Originating Summons to Writ of Summons and order parties to file pleadings so that the case can be heard on the merits at the trial court i.e, FCT High Court.
“Surprisingly, the Court of Appeal in a rather strange manner went on the voyage of discovery totally out of context to deliver judgment touching on the substantive case as if the appeal was against a final judgment.”
Apapa described the Appeal Court as “perverse” and said he has appealed immediately to the Supreme Court on five grounds and more grounds will be filled once the CTC of the judgment is obtained by the lawyers.
“The judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on Wednesday 6th day of March, has now been put on hold as it cannot be executed, since motion for stay of execution is already before the Supreme Court and has been served on Abure and his lawyers,” Arabambi said.
