2023: Peter Obi To Be Disqualified As Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate? Fresh Details Emerge
- An emerging report has it that Peter Obi may be disqualified as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party
- This was made known by Mr Ifagbemi Awamaridi, the factional chairman of the party in Lagos state
- Meanwhile, the national wing of the party has told supporters to be calm and that there is no such thing
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Peter Obi’s presidential candidacy under his Labour Party imprint is currently under threat following recent development in the ongoing crisis in the party.
A report by Punch newspaper confirms that an ongoing battle over the leadership position of the party in the Lagos state chapter might affect Peter Obi’s eligibility as the party’s legit standard bearer.
Source: Facebook
Legit.ng gathered that the aggrieved person in the middle of the whole crisis is the factional chairman and governorship candidate of the Lagos chapter of the party, Mr Ifagbemi Awamaridi.
Mr Awamaridi who spoke to the newspaper revealed that the failure of the party to recognize him as the chairman and governorship candidate in Lagos state will lead to the nullification of Peter Obi as the presidential candidate of the party.
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The aggrieved Awamaridi made this known on Friday, September 2 while stating that his ouster as claimed by the party did not follow constitutional procedure and the case still remains in court.
He also laid strong claim to his position as the gubernatorial candidate of the party, revealing that his name is still enlisted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Awamaridi said:
“There is a governorship candidate of the party, which has been published by INEC, and that candidate has not withdrawn, and that candidate has not died.
“For someone to say that he is organising a second primary election, that person is a political comedian. They (some members of the national leadership) have been compromised by money because whatever they are doing does not have any cerebral basis.”
On being the rightful chairman of the party in Lagos state, Mr. Awamaridi pointed out that going by the statutory provisions of the party, he still remains the legit leader of the party in the state.
He said:
“The document with which they said they appointed Kayode Salako was disclosed through a press statement on July 23, 2022, and it was fraudulently backdated to the 18th of May 2022.
“That document can never hold water. In the first place, he (Salako) is not a member of the LP; he is a member of the All Progressives Congress.”
He argued that if they were to go by the document that presents Salako as chairman, “it means that Peter Obi is not the presidential candidate of the LP. It means that as of the 18th of May, Kayode Salako was the Chairman of LP.
“I, as the Chairman of the LP, Lagos State, led the delegates from Lagos that elected Peter Obi to be the presidential candidate on May 30, 2022 (at the special convention).
“So, you are now saying that the delegates that went to the convention from Lagos State are illegal and that delegates that went to that primary election were defective, and that the convention is tantamount to be invalidated.”
Labour Party reacts to crisis, Obi's eligibility
Reacting to this development, the national publicity secretary of the Abayomi Arabambi disclosed that the party had no idea of such a claim at the national level.
He, however, maintained that Mr. Awamaridi is not a member of the party after violating some of the party’s laws.
Arabambi revealed that the aggrieved Mr. Awamaridi had failed to pay the party dues and also failed to attend some of the party’s meetings.
On the threat that Peter Obi will be nullified, Arabambi said there is no such thing but revealed that Mr. Awamaridi’s name will be replaced by INEC with Gbadebo-Rhodes Vivour as the gubernatorial candidate of the party on October 4.
He said:
“INEC has pronounced October 4 as the last day that they are going to publish the names of the person they substituted.
“The fact that the name is still there does not confer legality on him. It is just according to INEC’s timetable.”
Source: Legit.ng
