LABOUR PARTY CRISIS: Apapa denies Abure’s claim it withdrew Obi’s petition

The Lamidi Apapa faction of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party has denied allegations that it approached the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) to withdraw the petition, filed by the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The Apapa faction also accused the faction loyal to Julius Abure of attempting to cause civil unrest in the country with the allegation.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that the Julius Abure faction, on Tuesday, alleged that Apapa and his team had gone to the tribunal in Abuja to withdraw Obi’s petition challenging the victory of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the Apapa faction, the publication was laced with deliberate falsehood, saying it was an “epistle of personal bitterness, ignorance and complete unintelligent outburst.”

In a statement in Abeokuta on Thursday by its Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, Apapa said Abure has been restrained by the Abuja High Court “over confirmed allegations of forgery of Court seal” and others, saying it is not new that he could engage in “cheap blackmail to gain public sympathy in order to cover up his criminal tracks.”

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He also challenged Abure to produce a copy of the letter which Apapa or the Secretary signed to seek the withdrawal of the petition at the tribunal.

The factional LP chairman said he and his team would not be intimidated by “these wicked lies”, adding that the publication was “a well orchestrated plan by Abure to incite violence and chaos in order to make Nigeria ungovernable.”

He further stated that he and his team would not engage in any verbal war with those he called “pedestrian political misfits and despots.”

According to him, it was obvious that “Abure is trying to whip up sentiment on his travails”, adding that the Labour Party under the leadership of Apapa, 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.”

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