LP

Lamido Apapa was named the new national chairman of the Labour Party on Thursday after Julius Abure was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo State.

Additionally, the court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to promptly recognize and publish the names of each candidate for governor in Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi states who was put out by the Apapa-led National Working Committee.

Additionally, the court disqualified additional members of the Abure-led LP faction, including Imo State Senator Athan Achonu, from running for governor.

Apapa claimed in April that his expulsion from the party was erroneous and that he was still the ‘legal acting chairman.’

It was reported on August 14 that Abure had been confirmed as the National Chairman of the Labour Party by a Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, the capital of Edo State. Obiora Ifoh, the party’s national publicity secretary, revealed this in a statement.

Prior to this, on May 26, The PUNCH reported that an Edo-based State High Court had denied the notice of suspension that some party members at the ward level had issued against Abure. Justice Emmanuel Aihamoje, the judge, dismissed the case for lack of merit.

A Labour Party agent has been reported to have been killed by gunmen during Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Apapa axis of Lagos State.

Aside from killing the agents, the hoodlums were also said to have destroyed the voting exercise in some other polling units in Apapa axis of the state.

It was gathered that some of the locations allegedly attacked by the hoodlums during the exercise were said to be strongholds of the LP where they were expected to have polled many votes.

The party’s governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, confirmed death of the agent’s death while responding to attacks on their members across the state.

According to Gbadebo, the unidentified agent was murdered in the Apapa neighbourhood of the state by thugs suspected of belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

“We are receiving reports of voter intimidation and voter suppression from all over Lagos. One of our agents was shot and killed in Apapa. And it’s concerning that INEC and the police have been implicated in this.

“The worried thing is that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police were complicit in this matter. And they are provoking Lagosians at the moment. And if tonight Lagos goes up in flames, no one should blame the Labour Party or the act. They did not do the right thing.

“Many parts of Lagos are still under intense attacks by thugs supporting the APC. I appeal to INEC and other authorities to ensure that they do the needful to ensure that the process is free and air across the state.

“It was learnt that no police officer was at some of the polling units within the council, allowing the hoodlums to have a filled day, threatening that voters that are not ready to cast their vote for the APC should stay away from the polling units”.