The Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Chief Spokesperson, Mr Yunusa Tanko, has alleged that the party’s current internal strife is a deliberate attempt by the opposition to prevent the party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, from reclaiming his mandate at the presidential election tribunal.
The Labour Party’s post-election crisis assumed a new dimension on Thursday when a faction of the party led by Lamidi Apapa, the national vice chairman of the party for the South, claimed to have taken Julius Abure’s place as acting national chairman after the latter was suspended by an Abuja Federal High Court.
As stated in Article 17 of the party’s constitution, the national chairman may be suspended or removed from office on a vote of no confidence passed by a vote of at least two-thirds majority at a national convention held for that purpose, Apapa’s installation as acting chairman by the aggrieved members is invalid, according to Yunusa, who spoke with Sunday Sun over the phone.
Additionally, he declared that they would appeal the court’s decision that removed Julius Abure as the party’s leader.
According to Tanko: “The High Court has given its own verdict and we are challenging that; in few days you will hear some positive responses with regards to that.
“The whole idea of what you are seeing, the drama playing out is actually targeted towards our principal (Peter Obi). That is all it is all about, there is nothing more than that. Even though some times we colourise it as forgery and so on. Why has it not come out before now? It is now that we are in court that they are coming out with it? That tells you something. This particular people who are involved we have seen them already wining and dining with the governor of Ogun State who is an APC apologist and a very close confidant of Bola Tinubu. So we know.
“So, it is sponsored because if you want to find out how much they have that they can finance the presence of a SAN to help them go to court. They employed the services of a SAN.
“Installing a new chairman of the party cannot hold because the fact still remains that before you can remove the sitting chairman, you have to follow Article 17 of the party constitution which says that you have to call specifically for that removal which was not called at that time.
“Nigeria should know that we are a disciplined political party, we follow all the disciplinary positions of the law to deal with the matter, we will also challenge it in the court of law and ensure that they are being vindicated if they are being found wanting, we know what to do when we reach that particular bridge.”
Credit: Daily Sun