LP crisis threatens Peter Obi’s candidacy

The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) over who is the authentic chairman of its Lagos chapter may threaten the candidacy of its presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi.

This is according to Ifagbemi Awamaridi,  the factional chairman and governorship candidate of the party in Lagos state.

The party had replaced Awamaridi with Kayode Salako as the Lagos LP chairman. But, Awamaridi insists he is the “bonafide chairman.” He claims his removal was arbitrary and unconstitutional, and currently a subject of litigation.

“There is a governorship candidate (referring to himself) of the party, which has been published by INEC, and that candidate has not withdrawn, and that candidate has not died.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.

“I am still the state chairman of the LP. You can go and refer to the constitution of the Labour Party. There is a procedure for removing an officer from the party.

“You can be removed by the National Executive Council if you are a national officer, but if you are a state officer, you can be removed by the congress.

“You cannot be appointed to a position except by the NEC at the national level or the State Executive Council or the congress of that state.

“More so, you don’t just remove an officer; there must be a reason. If it is on disciplinary issues, that person must have gone through a disciplinary process.

“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.

“Furthermore, 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.

“Parties are now going for the Certified True Copies of that document in Abuja because they want to use it against Peter Obi. The moment you can prove that the primary was defective, you invalidate the congress and then you nullify the candidate of the party.

“That is what the originators of the Labour Party want to achieve, having been compromised with financial gratification or other things.”

However, the party defended its action, saying that Awamaridi had stopped being a financial member and, as a result, led to his removal.

PUNCH