The Lamidi
Apapa faction of the Labour Party has refuted allegations that it approached
the presidential
election tribunal to withdraw the petition filed by the
party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi. The Julius Abure faction had earlier
claimed that Apapa and his team had gone to the tribunal in Abuja to withdraw
Obi’s petition challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu.
However, in
a statement released by the faction’s Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi,
Apapa denied the claims and described them as “deliberate
falsehoods”. Apapa accused Abure of engaging in “cheap
blackmail” to gain public sympathy and cover up his alleged criminal
tracks. He further challenged Abure to produce a copy of the letter he or the
Secretary signed to seek the withdrawal of the petition at the tribunal.
Apapa stated
that he and his team would not be intimidated by “these wicked lies”
and accused Abure of trying to incite violence and chaos in order to make
Nigeria ungovernable. He further stated that the Labour Party under his
leadership stands with Obi on the “mission to reclaim the mandate freely
given to him and our party during the February 25th 2023 Presidential and
National Assembly election.”
Apapa
concluded that he and his team would not engage in any verbal war with those he
called “pedestrian political misfits and despots”. He noted that it
was obvious that “Abure is trying to whip up sentiment on his
travails” and advised him to face his legal challenges squarely. It
remains to be seen how this controversy will affect the ongoing legal battle
over the outcome of the presidential election.
