He urged the Inspector General of Police to act swiftly to prosecute the suspects, stating that justice must be served to preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The leader of the Labour Party (LP) caucus in the House of Representatives, Hon. Afam Ogene, has said he feels vindicated following a recommendation by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) for the prosecution of embattled former LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, over allegations of criminal conspiracy, forgery, and perjury.
The recommendation, contained in a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation to the Inspector General of Police, followed a petition by LP’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections in Ebonyi State, Splendour Oko Eze.
The AGF’s letter, dated March 7, 2025, and signed by M.B. Abubakar, cited a prima facie case against Abure and three others: Farouk Umar Ibrahim, Nkwegu Edward Okereke, and Ojukwu Clement.
“Consequently, I am directed to transmit the case file back to the Nigeria Police Force for prosecution,” the letter stated, noting that the suspects allegedly forged documents, including a withdrawal letter and membership card, to unlawfully substitute Eze’s name as the LP governorship candidate for Ebonyi.
Despite the AGF’s directive more than two months ago, Ogene lamented that the police have yet to act, accusing the force of shielding the suspects and delaying justice. He cited a 2023 police investigation report that revealed repeated failures by the accused to respond to police summons, calling it a “blatant disregard to law and order.”
Eze had accused Abure and others of forging his signature and party documents to falsely claim he had withdrawn from the race after he lawfully won the LP governorship primaries held on June 9, 2022. The forged documents were used to submit a new candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the AGF confirmed.
According to the AGF’s findings, there is prima facie evidence against the suspects to support charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, using false documents, giving false evidence, and making false declarations. Eze’s name was duly submitted and published by INEC as LP’s candidate, but Abure subsequently submitted a notice of withdrawal and substitution form to INEC, replacing Eze.
The withdrawal letter and LP membership card used in the substitution were found to have forged signatures. Forensic analysis confirmed the signatures did not match Eze’s verified signature.
Though the suspects denied forging the documents, the investigation concluded that they had the strongest motive and had in fact used the disputed documents, thereby establishing intent. It was also established that the affidavit supporting the withdrawal notice was not deposed to by Eze.
Hon. Ogene said the development affirms his long-standing position that Abure’s leadership was marked by corruption and manipulation. He urged the Inspector General of Police to act swiftly to prosecute the suspects, stating that justice must be served to preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy.
“This vindicates my earlier position that the internal processes of the party were compromised for selfish gains,” Ogene said.
The AGF’s office also requested periodic updates on the progress of the prosecution from the police.