The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is illegal and unconstitutional for Julius Abure to continue parading himself as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

The electoral body said it no longer recognises Abure or other members of the party’s national working committee, as their tenures expired in June 2024.

This is contained in a counter-affidavit INEC filed in response to a suit brought by the Labour Party challenging its exclusion from the commission’s refresher training for uploading party agents ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

The Commission argued that the Labour Party’s leadership, including Abure, is now invalid, stressing that it does not recognise the party’s March 2024 National Convention, which purportedly re-elected Abure as chairman.

It maintained that the convention contravened both the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act, stressing that it only deals with parties that have legitimate leadership in place.

According to a written submission supporting the counter affidavit, INEC’s legal team, led by Tanko Inuwa, SAN, stated that the Labour Party’s suit seeks declaratory reliefs, which cannot be granted merely by admission.

They argued that the Labour Party must prove its case, even with the admissions presented.

The INEC’s lawyers added that, due to the Labour Party’s failure to adhere to the legal requirements in holding its national convention, the party no longer has a valid leadership with which INEC can engage.

They prayed the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Labour Party is not entitled to the reliefs it is seeking.

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, has told the Federal government to expect more protests despite the latest attempts to suppress dissenting voices in the country.

This followed his arrest by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Sunday.

He was released a few hours later.

Sowore, who appeared in an interview programme on Arise TV late on Sunday, insisted that the planned “FearlessInOctober” protest slated to begin on October 1, and other demonstrations, will still go ahead.

He said the protests are organised by Nigerians against the “oppressive” administration of President Bola Tinubu..

The activist said: “We started on August 1, which was part of the ‘End Bad Governance’ protest. It was supposed to be a continuation.

“There were 15 demands that the government did not even attend to. Instead of that, the Federal government arrested and detained a lot of people. They tied them with bogus offences, very outrageous offences of treason – for carrying placards.

“So, this is going to be a continuation of that.

“Everybody is aware, the government is aware of this. Everybody is looking forward to it because it’s a matter of right that Nigerians have to not allow this government to obliterate them with hunger, starvation, and incompetence

“It is treason to arrest, detain, and forcibly charge citizens with crimes that the government committed. And it’s not the first time I was accused of treason. In fact, I heard about the offence of treason in 1992 at the University of Lagos when we went and did Babangida Must Go.

“And the police arrested us at Western Avenue Police Station, asked us to start writing statements under duress, and said that we wanted to overthrow the government. That was the period that Olusegun Mayegun was President of NANS.

“I was charged with treason in 2019 by Buhari, so I’m not new to these bogus offences of treason. But that is not our focus. Our focus is that we have a country to liberate and a people to save. So whatever offences are thrown our way, we should not be discouraged.

“It’s up to the people to determine what constitutes the offence of treason. And I must say to you also that in 1994, Tinubu was accused of treason. If you remember he was accused of bombing the Ejigbo depot by Abacha.

“So that was why he left Nigeria on exile. But in our case, we are not going to go on exile simply because the government is afraid of our package.”