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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The crisis rocking the Labour Party deepened on Thursday as seven members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) announced the National Vice Chairman (South), Lamidi Bashiru Apapa, as the acting chairman of the party, replacing the suspended chairman, Julius Abure.
Speaking after an emergency meeting held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Apapa said the NWC members acted on the judgement of the Federal Capital Territory High Court which restrained Abure from parading himself as the National Chairman of the Labour Party.
Aside Abure, the court also restrained three other NWC members of the party from parading themselves as national officers over alleged forgery.
Justice Hamza Muazu had on Wednesday ordered that the originating processes of the court be served on the restrained officials – Abure, National Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim; National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara; and National Organising Secretary, Clement Ojukwu.
The judge held that the ex parte application for an interim injunction restraining the four officials files by aggrieved members of the party before the court has merit and granted same.
The three other officials restrained were also replaced by Alhaji Saleh Lawal- acting National Secretary, Rowland Daramola- acting Treasurer, and Prince Reuben Favour – acting National Organising Secretary.
Apapa told journalists that the NWC also reviewed the suspension of party members and exco that had earlier been suspended by the leadership of the party.
“The NWC equally reviewed that recently there are some cases of suspensions that were badly handled. And this National Working Committee meeting has reviewed them, and the suspension all over are hereby reviewed and the officers are reinstated.
“With effect from now, the so-called officers who the court had barred should not parade themselves as officers of the party until cases against them are treated or handled by the party,” he stated.
Apapa also denied the allegation that the party has been infiltrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the current leadership have faith in the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi.
Earlier, Abure had in a statement, raised an alarm accusing the APC of using thugs and a detachment of the Nigeria Police Force to invade the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
The embattled chairman stated that the invaders, who are armed, pulled down the fences, burglaries, doors and windows to have access to the secretariat and in the process sacked workers and party members.
“Though, I was out of town but information has it that the agenda of the Invaders was to inaugurate an illegitimate executive which has been chosen for them by their sponsors.
“This incident is coming days after a similar invasion in our Imo state Secretariat which up till now is still being occupied by the agents of the Imo State Government.
“Only yesterday (Wednesday), our presidential candidate, Peter Obi through the LP Presidential Campaign Council alerted Nigerians of a plot to hound him out of the country over APC’s covert plot in collaboration with some security agents to frame him up allegedly on matters bothering on treason.
“Labour Party is only a political party which is contesting for power. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has conducted an election that ranked us third, a position we have rejected and have approached the Tribunal to contest. That is our only offence.
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his party, the APC to order and also rein them in from using unorthodox means to suffocate political structures in Nigeria,” Abure said.
However, stern-looking police officers have taken over the secretariat of the party.