In the last few weeks, Nigerians’ attention has shifted from the legal battle instituted at the presidential election Tribunal by the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi. The focus of the citizenry has moved towards the leadership tussle that has engulfed the ‘Obidient’ party. But in his view, the factional youth leader of the party, Prince Kennedy Ahanotu, has said that the whole melodrama is targeted at crippling the court case by Obi to retrieve his mandate.
It will be recalled that a few days back, the presidential candidate had said he was under pressure to leave the country. In a tweet, the former Anambra State governor had noted that the pressure on him was intense, but he won’t bow to the pressure. Instead of this, he said he will remain in the country to reclaim the mandate he believed was given to him by the Nigerian voters at the presidential poll.
But observers have been quick to point out that Obi, as the standard-bearer of the Labour Party, can only continue to fight in the court when his party remains undivided behind him. The pundits noted that the LP presidential candidate apparently needs a stable platform to stand and rest on while he continues his legal redress in court, because a troubled house will undoubtedly jeopardise his chances of defeating his much stronger opponents at the Election petition tribunal.
It has been observed that in a bid to fuel trouble in the LP, series of allegations have been thrown at its Chairman, Mr Julius Abure and three other members of his executives by an insider, the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Abayomi Arabambi, who has been suspended from the party over alleged anti-party activities.
But Arabambi has maintained that the principles and ideals that the LP stood for have been eroded by the actions of four persons which he said were the National Chairman of the party, Abure, the party’s National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, its National Organizing Secretary, Clement Ojukwu and its National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara.
Arabambi premised his allegations leveled against the four persons on forgery.
He said the Court document, a letter dated 15/07/2022 with the Subject, “Letter of voluntary withdrawal” by Mr. Eze Oko as governor of Ebonyi State addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was allegedly forged.
Also, the police in a correspondence to Abayomi, the suspended National Publicity Secretary on the 9th of March, 2023 on paragraph 3 item 7, said, “That the Analysis of signature sent to the forensic department revealed that the signature was forged.” It described the letter as being “comprehensively false and forged.”
“The Form EC 11B which draws life from Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2022 on which the New Candidate Nkwegu Edward Okereke replaced Eze Oko was also alleged to have been forged also.
“Another Form EC 9 in the Commissioner of Oath, sworn to at the Abakaliki State High Court on 02/08/2022 was also alleged to have been forged.”
From Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, the allegation shifted to Edo State, the home state of the LP Chairman as it was discovered that the letter of voluntary withdrawal of Imasuen Paul Murphy, the Orhionmwon/Uhumwonde candidate sworn to at the “High Court Registry Abuja,” also did not survive administrative scrutiny.
The letter issued from the office of the Chief Registrar, High Court of The Federal Capital Territory, dated 08/11/2022, reads in part: “The attached copy of letter of voluntary withdrawal bearing the name of Imasuen Paul Murphy dated 8th July, 2022 reveals that the document was not sworn to before a Commissioner for oath in this court, because there is no name of the commissioner for oath on the said document and also there is no revenue receipt number.”
Armed with this, the team of five led by the deputy National Vice Chairman of the party, Bashir Lamidi Apapa, stormed the secretariat on Thursday last week to unseat the National Chairman, Abure. Apapa held a press briefing after a meeting with the minority NWC members of the party and declared a takeover of the party’s leadership.
With the announcement of Apapa as the new National Chairman of the party, the state chairmen of the party across the 36 states of the federation had a meeting at Abure’s hometown in Uromi, Edo State.
Then, they proceeded to the national headquarters of the party, where they insisted due process must be followed. They maintained that the process was what matters to them and the LP would not allow brigandage in its change of leadership.
Lamidi had earlier stated that their mission was to ensure that Obi reclaimed his mandate ultimately. This promise was made through a statement signed by Arabambi.
In the statement, Lamidi was quoted to have declared its unwavering support for a new Nigeria and the Peter Obi 2023 presidential election victory mandate recovery, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) allegedly denied him.
“The factional acting National Chairman has assured Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora to have fate in the new national working committee, NWC and its leadership to achieve the desires of Nigerians for a progressive, prosperous and stable Nigeria.
“Mr. Peter Obi and the entire stakeholders of the party and Nigerians are enjoined to be steadfast as the leadership of LP is committed to the mandate recovery of the Labour Party 2023 presidential election results victory in the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“Alhaji Lamidi Apapa stated that the LP NWC & NEC shall unveil detailed strategies aimed at recovering the peoples’ mandate that is now hanging before the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“NWC pledges to unveil its national programmes that will impact on the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians and Nigeria going forward and enjoy party members to conduct themselves in a civilized manner at all time,” Apapa stated.
For the factional National Youth leader of the party, Prince Kennedy Ahanotu, the whole episode is geared towards one end, which is to discredit the presidential tribunal campaign Obi has begun in the court to reclaim his mandate.
Ahanotu said: “Our presidential candidate has gone to court. The party is in Court and the target is for them to discredit that process and as a party, who should be forming government by the next few months, we disagree with whatever Apapa Lamidi and Co have done.”
His fears apparently emanate from the fact that any candidate of the party can only be nominated by the party. Where a party decides otherwise, the candidate would have no locus to stand demand for anything in the party’s name in court.
Some readily available examples are from the recent judgement of the Supreme Court that upheld Ahmed Lawan as the true and authentic candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as against Bashir Sheriff Machina for the Yobe North Senatorial District. The case was taken to the Supreme Court by the All Progressives Congress, (APC) as a party, without recourse to her own internal process of electing a candidate.
The fear of the youth leader is further accentuated by the experience of the incumbent President Mohammadu Buhari, when as the presidential candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2007 poll that brought in the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Late President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, lost locus to further prosecute his legal battle to upturn the victory of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the court as the party withdrew.
While the presidential candidate of the ANPP was in Court, seeking to upturn the mandate of the PDP candidate, his running mate and National Chairman of the party abandoned the pursuit for Government of National Unity (GNU).
In the copy of motion filed by Mike Ahamba in behalf of Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, the application requested the court to strike out his name brought before the commencement of trial of the pending petition.
He said that “He is the National Chairman of the ANPP, which sponsored Buhari for the April 21 poll and that the said party heeded the call of Yar’Adua to join his government of National unity in the interest of all Nigerians.
While Buhari does not agree and does not support the party’s decision to join the GNU; in the circumstance, he as the second petitioner/applicant cannot honourably go along any longer with Buhari, who is the first petitioner/respondent to prosecute the petition against the President.
That application truncated Buhari’s legal tussle with the PDP at the time. The question among many Obidients as expressed by Ahanotu remains that what happens if the presidential candidate of the party is the target of the whole melodrama in the party?
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