No Guber Candidate Can Contest Election Without My Approval’ — Lamidi Apapa

Lamidi Apapa, National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), on Thursday, stated that only candidates he endorsed will be allowed to run in the November 11 governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo States.

While speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, he claimed that the Court of Appeal’s decision in Owerri had confirmed him as the legitimate National Chairman of the Party.

We had reported that the court dismissed the Julius Abure-led faction and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Apapa’s faction’s governorship candidates for the election.

Recall that on April 5, the Abuja High court restrained Abure and others from parading themselves as national officers of the Party.

To its end, LP appointed the Deputy National Chairman, Lamidi Apapa, as the acting National Chairman of the Party in accordance with its constitution.

“Sequel to that the party under my leadership wrote to INEC changing its date of primary election earlier scheduled by Abure from April 15 to April 16.” “Notwithstanding the fact that he was under a restraining order, Abure still went ahead to conduct his primaries for Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa on those dates,” he said.

According to Apapa, his faction conducted primaries on April 16, making it two primaries conducted by the LP in the states.

“Peeved by the primary conducted by me, a candidate who participated in the Abure primary took my candidate to court whilst maintaining that Abure’s candidates were the authentic ones. The case was frantically defended, and the Federal High Court (FHC), Owerri Division, declared the primaries conducted by me as the authentic candidate as Abure was under a restraining order as at the time he screened candidates and conducted his primaries,” he added.

Apapa who insisted that the court recognized him as the legitimate Chairman of the party said, those dissatisfied with the FHC decision, Abure’s candidates, including the winner of his primaries, filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal.

He furthered that the court of appeals had also upheld the FHC’s ruling that Abure’s conduct was contemptuous because he was subject to a restraining order at the time of the primaries.

“That restraining order is still in force even at the time this judgment was delivered,” Apapa added.

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