A former deputy chairman of the Labour Party, Callistus Okafor, has approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to declare him as the authentic chairman of the party, stating that the constitution of the party still recognised him as the substantive deputy chairman of the party.

The appellant while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday said he emerged as the chairman of the LP following the death of the chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, on December 29, 2020.

He urged the apex court to declare his ouster as the acting national chairman following the death of the substantive chairman,  Abdulsalami, as illegal because there was also a consent judgment that recognised his emergence.

Okafor further praurged the Supreme Court to also declare null and void all actions so far taken by Abure.

Asides from Okafor, Abure and Lamidi Apapa are currently contesting the chairmanship of the party.

The court in a recent judgement by Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal High Court in Abuja barred Abure and his team from parading themselves as national officers of the party.

Okafor, however, said, “I am the only acting national chairman of the Labour Party. Every other person parading himself as such is fake. Lamidi Apapa and Abure are both fake. Apapa for instance cannot emerge in illegality. His emergence would have been better if there was no consent judgment. So far there is a consent judgment, Julius Abure is an illegal Labour Party Chairman.

“The only leader the Labour Party has at the moment is Callistus Okafor who is the acting national chairman that is recognised by the constitution of the Labour Party.

Let everybody know that I had approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Thursday, May 18 and prayed the apex court to declare Abure’s LP chairmanship claims, illegal.”