Lamidi Apapa, deputy national chairman (south) of the Labour Party (LP), says he remains the acting national chairman of the party.
On April 6, Apapa declared that he had taken charge of the affairs of the party.
The declaration came a few hours after Julius Abure, national chairman of the LP, alleged that thugs aided by police officers invaded the party’s headquarters in the federal capital territory (FCT) and caused damage to the property.
Abure claimed that the invasion was sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to destabilise the party and its challenge of the presidential election won by Bola Tinubu.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, Apapa said he has been a member of the party since 2002, and as such, he cannot work against the LP.
Apapa said he is not being sponsored to cause a crisis in the party.
“That is not true. Nobody is sponsoring me,” he said.
“I was the chairman of the party in Oyo, and gubernatorial candidate of the party in 2007.
I have been praying that one day; this Labour Party will lead Nigeria. And if it has come to this level, how will a reasonable say I was there to work for somebody?”
When asked if he has the support of the ‘Obidients’ — supporters of LP presidential candidate Peter Obi — he said: “I think so, they are on my side.”
The LP chieftain said his actions are in order since a court had asked Abure to step down as the chairman of the party.
A federal capital territory (FCT) high court had on April 5 issued an order restraining Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the LP.
“Now, if that has happened, what else? The next person should take over,” Apapa said.
“In the party today, as far as the national working committee is concerned, I’m the oldest and I maintain that, I use my experience, I use my knowledge, I use my age to advise them, that is what I do.
I am not arguing with Abure’s leadership. My argument with him is that if it has to do with Labour Party constitution, he may be right.
But when it has to do with the laws of the land, Labour Party constitution does not allow anybody to run foul of the Nigerian constitution and at the moment when the court has ruled that don’t parade yourself any longer as the national chairman of that party, right from that moment he ceases to be the chairman of the party.
By virtue of that law, he is bound to step aside because the law has said don’t do it.”
