The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) over its perennial leadership tussle took a twist on Thursday when the Court of Appeal in Owerri, invalidated all the off-season governorship primary elections conducted by the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure.

The court sitting, which was moved from Owerri to Abuja owing to security reasons, also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognize and publish the names of all the governorship candidates in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states produced by the Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee.

The appellate court further dismissed the candidature of Senator Athan Achonu in the forthcoming governorship election in Imo State.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Apapa insisted that the court ruling had reaffirmed that Abure was not the authentic party chairman of the party when the primaries were conducted.