By Chukwudi Ebele
Labour Party caucus leader in the House of Representatives, Hon. Afam Ogene, said he’s vindicated by the recent recommendation by the Attorney General of the Federation for the prosecution of former LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, over alleged crimes including criminal conspiracy, perjury, and forgery.
The federal lawmaker has consistently questioned the embattled former national LP chairman’s moral authority to lead the party, particularly following the recent Supreme Court pronouncement and numerous allegations of malfeasance against him.
According to Hon Ogene, the Attorney General made the recommendation for Abure’s prosecution by the Nigeria Police on March 7, 2025, according to a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation to the Inspector General of Police. This follows a petition by the party’s governorship candidate in Ebonyi State, which was substantiated by investigations. Both the police and the Attorney General’s office, according to a letter to the IGP, dated March 7, 2025 and signed by M.B. Abubakar, Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation, found merit in the petition, leading to the recommendation for prosecution. His words: “Consequently, I am directed to transmit the case file back to the Nigeria Police Force for prosecution…”
“But more than two months after the clear instructions of the Attorney General of the Federation for the prosecution of the accused, the Police appears to be foot-dragging in carrying out it’s constitutional responsibility.
“This lethargic disposition appears to be in tandem with the handling of the matter since it was instituted over three years ago. In fact, in a March 9, 2023 investigation report authored by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Junaid Bukar, the Police rued the fact that “some of the suspects have vehemently refused to report in order to exercise their right to fair hearing, despite writing them four different letters.
“This in itself is an affront to constituted authority, as well as blatant disregard to law and order,” ACP Bukar said.
An aggrieved governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections, Splendour Oko Eze, had accused Abure, Farouk Umar Ibrahim, Nkwegu Edward Okereke, and Ojukwu Clement of criminally substituting his name at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after he lawfully won the governorship primary election in Ebonyi State. Specifically, he alleged that they forged his signature and party registration card to support a purported affidavit claiming his withdrawal from the race.
Hon. Ogene stated that this development vindicates his stance that Abure’s leadership of the party was marred by corruption and unfair manipulation of internal election processes for selfish reasons. He, therefore, urged the Inspector General of Police to ensure that the suspects are brought to justice, to serve as a deterrent to other political leaders with similar intentions that undermine democracy.
The lawmaker said that the document was very explicit in paragraph 2 (i) which stated thusly: “The investigation report concludes that the four suspects conspired and participated in commiting the alleged offences, thereby establishing a prima facie case of criminal conspiracy, forgery, using as genuine a false document, giving false evidence and false declaration.”
Paragraph three of the letter also requested that they be prosecuted and periodic report about the prosecution provided to the office of the Attorney General by the Police.
The Attorney General’s directive conveyed in the letter titled “RE: REQUEST FOR HARMONIZATION OF THE INTERIM INVESTIGATION REPORTS AND ONE LEGAL ADVICE
“RE: FORWARDING OF THE DUPLICATE CASE DIARY FOR PROSECUTION OF THE CASE OF FORGERY, PERJURY AND CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY,” read in parts:
“2. Following a careful review of the case file, we found that:
a) Based on the “Brief” from your office, there is a prima facie evidence against the suspects, namely Julius Abure, Farouk Umar Ibrahim, Nkwegu Edward Okereke and Ojukwu Clement, to support the offences of the Criminal conspiracy, Forgery, Using as genuine a false document, Giving False evidence and False declaration contrary to sections 97, 362 & 363, 364, 156 & 158, and 164 of the Penal Code respectively.
“b) According to the detailed findings of the investigation report, Mr. Splendour Oko Eze, a registered member of the Labour Party (LP), participated in and won the gubernatorial primaries for Ebonyi held on the 9th of June 2022, in accordance with the Electoral Act 2022.
“c) Subsequent to the aforementioned primaries, Mr. Splendour Oko Eze’s name was submitted to and published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the Labour Party Governorship candidate for Ebonyi State in the 2023 elections.
“d) On the 3rd of August 2022, Mr. Julius Abure(National Chairman of the LP) submitted a notice of withdrawal and substitution of candidate form EC 11B and EC9 respectively to INEC, thereby replacing Mr. Splendour as the candidate of LP.
“e) The investigation report indicates that the withdrawal letter attributed to Mr. Splendour Oko Eze and the signature on the LP membership card, which were used by the suspects to substitute Mr. Splendour’s nomination, were forged.
“f) A forensic analysis comparing Mr. Splendour Oko Eze’s verified signature with the disputed signatures on the purported letter of withdrawal and membership card indicate that the signatures do not match.
“g) Although the suspects deny forging the letter of withdrawal and membership card, investigation indicates they had the most significant motive to commit the act. Additionally, it is reasonable to infer that the forged documents were obtained by the suspects, considering that they did not deny utilizing these same documents in replacing Mr. Splendour Oko Eze’s name via the INEC forms EC 11B and EC9, thereby establishing intent and overt acts in furtherance of a criminal design.
“h) It was further established that the affidavit used in supporting the notice of withdrawal was not deposed to by Mr. Splendour Oko Eze.”