By Olusegun Olanrewaju, Deborah Onyofufeke and Cross Udo
There was high drama in Abuja yesterday at the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) when the two factions of the Labour Party (LP) clashed at court premises.
Trouble started as early as about 7.45am when both factions, composed of members loyal to factional chairman Lamidi Apapa, and supporters of the suspended chairman, Julius Abure, arrived at the court.
Apapa, who is locked in a battle with the suspended chairman of the party, Abure, had arrived at the court for the case of a petition that the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, filed against the victory of President-elect Bola Tinubu.
Although Abure was not in court, some key members of the party, including the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign, Akin Osuntokun, were on the ground.
They engaged the Apapa faction in a shouting match, asking offensive questions. “Who are you?”, a party official asked Apapa, who fired back, saying, “Who are you too?”
There was an exchange of words between both factions spearheaded by Apapa and Jude Umeokeke over which faction had the legal right to be present in court.
Eventually, the Apapa-led faction moved away from the corner designed for petitioners and sat in the main hall of the courtroom, leaving the Abure-led faction at the corner.
*Tribunal fails to recognise acting chairman, Apapa
When the matter was called, the presiding judge, Haruna Tsammani, refused to recognise any representative for the LP since Apapa and Mrs Dudu Malunga had introduced themselves as representatives of the party.
Shortly after the proceedings, as newsmen were set to interview the Apapa-led faction, supporters loyal to Abure mounted guard and blocked Apapa from approaching the cameras.
Despite pleas from reporters that both sides would be heard, the supporters maintained their grounds and resisted, saying that Apapa was not the LP chairman, and would not speak on its behalf.
The Abure loyalists shouted, dragging Apapa all over the place, shouting, “You must not talk, you are an impostor, thief, thief.”
It took the intervention of a large number of security personnel to contain the pandemonium. Policemen battled to free Apapa from the irate youth, before escaping him to a safe corner.
The security personnel succeeded in wresting Apapa from the youths and taking him back into the courtroom to avoid him being lynched by the youths.
*Obi, Abure sponsored thugs against me in court, says embattled chair
Meanwhile, the embattled factional national chair of the LP, Apapa, yesterday said the presidential candidate of the party, Obi, and the party’s suspended national chairman, Abure allegedly sponsored thugs against him (Apapa) at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, venue of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
He told a national daily that the national publicity secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi, said he was surprised this was how Obi, Abure and their supporters intended to come at them.
He said, “They attacked some policemen. They were fighting with journalists. It was the security operatives that saved us. They came there to kill today (Wednesday), and we will petition the police.”
Asked to provide evidence, Arabambi said, “We have the video now, the man that removed the cap of Apapa, we know him. We know them. We know all of them.
“We were together in the court when they started attacking us. Are they, not ‘Obidients’, are they not shouting ‘Obidients’, shouting: Thief, Thief, on us! It shows the character of that man. He cannot even govern a local government,” he added.
The spokesperson of the LP, has, however, insisted that they would petition the Inspector General of Police over the incident.
In another development, Apapa has called on Obi to wade into the dispute rocking the party.
The chairman also asked that Obi’s interjection be done objectively to amicably resolve the lingering crisis.
Apapa made the call at a media briefing after his attack at the PEPC in Abuja yesterday, where he demanded that Obi must not be biased to get the disputed chairmanship tussle resolved.
*Apapa is a meddlesome interloper, he’s sponsored by interested political, and state actors- NLC
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the factional Chairman of LP, Mr Lamido Apapa as a meddlesome interloper that is working for interested political actors wishing the party dead.
The NLC in a statement disowning Apapa, said any attempt to allow him to foist himself as the Labour Party Chairman would be strongly resisted.
This was contained in a statement issued by Comrade Chris Uyot, Secretary, NLC Political Commission, titled, “Labour disowns Mr. Lamido Apapa, in Abuja
The organised labour condemned what it described as a show of shame displayed by the factional Chairman at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Abuja.
The statement read, “The shameful conduct of Mr. Lamidi Apapa at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal today, 17th May 2023, has once again brought to the fore the desperation of certain elements in the political class to deploy all manner of subterfuge and criminality to divide and despoil the massive goodwill currently being enjoyed by the Labour Party all over Nigeria.
“It is very unfortunate that Mr. Lamidi Apapa who continues to act lawlessly as an impostor ascribing to himself a vague status as the Chairman of the Labour Party and on the claims of representing the Nigeria Labour Congress, is receiving protection from institutions of the state whose mandate is the preservation of law and order.
“The Labour Party which was founded by the Nigeria Labour Congress more than three decades ago confers institutional membership on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Institutional representation of Organised Labour in the leadership of the Labour Party is at the behest of nomination by the leadership of the national labour centres, or from the affiliate unions or state councils of the NLC and TUC.
“As of today, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Oyo State Council of the NLC which Mr. Apapa Lamidi claims affiliation have completely disclaimed giving Mr. Lamidi Apapa any mandate to act on their behalf in the Labour Party in any capacity whatsoever thus disowning him. The national leadership of the Congress then wonders who Mr. Lamidi Apapa is representing in the Labour Party.
“This perfidy by Mr. Lamidi Apapa and his cohorts has been sustained by interested political actors in Nigeria whose abiding wish is the death of the Labour Party. Mr. Lamidi Apapa is a meddlesome interloper who is being used by reactionary forces to deny Nigerians the benefit of alternative political thought and organisation geared towards genuine national redemption and transformation.
“The NLC Political Commission wishes to reiterate its earlier statement disowning the so-called factional leadership of the Labour Party led by Mr Lamidi Apapa. Any attempt to allow Mr Lamidi Apapa to foist the show of shame he and his minions exhibited today at the sitting of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal would be strongly resisted by Organised Labour.
“We urge the Nigerian workers and people to retain their faith in our judiciary as the bastion of justice and the final refuge of the oppressed. We also call on all progressive Nigerians to remain vigilant as the court case by the Labour Party is considered by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“Organised Labour as the custodian of the ideology and values of the Labour Party of Nigeria will not sit back and watch conmen take advantage of our name and goodwill to sell the Labour Party to the highest bidder. The focus of the Political Commission of the Congress is the conscientisation of workers and the Nigerian people on the need for good governance.”
*PEPC: INEC has refused to provide requested documents, says Obi
In the same vein, the LP candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, yesterday informed the PEPC that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has so far refused to make available the documents he requested to prosecute his case at the resumed hearing of his petition which challenged the declaration of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election.
Obi, through his team of lawyers led by Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, said INEC has refused to do the needful by providing them with the required documents needed to prove that the election was not won by the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Tinubu.
After the elections were concluded, Obi, dissatisfied with the result, filed a petition challenging the declaration of the president-elect, Tinubu, as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Uzoukwu had told the open court how the electoral body had allegedly refused to meet their request by providing some of the sensitive materials that were used for the election.
The senior lawyer said, till now, the commission is yet to give them 70 per cent of all the documents they require and requested, adding that this includes the result of the presidential election from Rivers State.
Uzoukwu also said all efforts made from their end which included meeting with the Chairman of INEC who had earlier given assurance that the documents would be made available to Obi’s team, did not work out.
Obi’s lawyer also said a meeting was held with the INEC legal department who had promised to intervene and some documents were provided but were not sufficient as what they got wasn’t up to 30 per cent.
The legal practitioner said Rivers State has been a brick wall as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) boldly informed them that they did not have any Form EC8A available to give. He, however, said they had requested it be put in writing, but were yet to get any writing to that effect.
“INEC has stubbornly refused to provide the documents notwithstanding that I led the team on different occasions to INEC headquarters.
“I have written five letters to INEC, clearly requesting for documents, they refused, “Uzoukwu, SAN, told the court, insisting that his team would not be able to effectively establish their case without access to the electoral materials.
He, however, disclosed the plans of his team, to apply for a subpoena which is to be issued against INEC and its Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu.
INEC’s lead lawyer, Mr A.B Mahmood (SAN), in his response, told the court that it was not true that the petitioners were denied access to the documents they requested for.
According to him, there are protocols involved in the process of releasing such documents, among which he said included payment of copies and certification.
Mahmood told the court that some amount of money to the tune of N1.5m was supposed to be paid by Obi per his request, but Obi has refused to pay the sum which is for certification of materials he requested concerning the results of the presidential election in Sokoto State.
He said he also rejected some documents that were made available to him in Rivers State on the ground that all the documents he requested should be released to him at the same time.
He explained that the commission is committed to cooperating with both parties and the court to ensure an expeditious hearing of this case, but it is Obi’s team that is making things difficult. He said the PDP, although not around, was cooperating and receiving what they requested.
He added that if there is any issue that is brought to his attention, it will be resolved.
He told the court that Obi’s legal team walked out of a meeting the parties held on May 16, where they had agreed to put heads together to sort out some of the requested documents.
On his part, the President-elect, Tinubu, through his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, said he had no problem as INEC provided all the documents he needed to defend his election victory.
He commended INEC’s legal team for assisting to ensure the availability of the requested materials.
Tinubu blamed Obi’s inability to get the electoral materials on his refusal to pay the required fee for certification.
More so, Olanipekun, SAN, argued that Obi could not at this stage of the case, apply for a subpoena to be issued against the INEC and its Chairman.
“On our part my lord, we are always ready,” Tinubu’s lawyer added.
Meanwhile, Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel drew the attention of the parties that the 14 days duration allowed for the pre-hearing session to be conducted on the petition, would elapse by Sunday.
Justice Tsammani, adjourned till Friday, May 19, for continuous hearing of the petition following the failure of parties to agree on documents among other reasons.
