The Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labour Party has said that the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, should seek another political platform to pursue his presidential ambition ahead of the 2027 polls.
The Apapa group, whose legitimacy was just confirmed by the Edo Division of the Court of Appeal, announced that it had begun looking for another presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
Abayomi Arabambi, the faction’s spokesman, said this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday.
Arambambi spoke against the backdrop of Obi’s Supreme Court appeal on Tuesday, which challenged the Presidential Election Petitions Court’s judgement, which recognised President Bola Tinubu as the victor of the 2023 presidential election.
The Apapa-led LP faction has distanced itself from Obi and the Julius Abure faction’s determination to contest Tinubu’s victory in court.
Apapa was certified the genuine National Chairman of the Labour Party by the Edo division of the Court of Appeal on August 14.
In the interview, Arabambi said Obi should not waste his time seeking an appeal against Tinubu’s election.
He added that Obi lost the election due to his alleged mismanagement of human resources.
“My advice is for him (Obi) to go and start preparing for 2027. But it has to be in another party, not in LP. We are not going to allow this kind of rascality to continue in 2027. We will look for a fresh candidate as far as we are concerned.
“Obi is free to go back to APGA to run, not Labour Party. We don’t want to continue accommodating a character who believes no other person, other than himself, has anything upstairs. He is not a good manager of human resources. That was why he lost woefully.”
Yunusa Tanko, spokesman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, downplayed Arabambi’s warning.
He said, “They (the Apapa faction) don’t own Labour Party. That’s why I don’t want to take issues with them. There is no need to give these people attention.”
In addition, the LP’s National Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, chastised the Apapa faction, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission recognised the Abure faction.
He said, “Do they have any authority over the party? They are suspended members of the party. So, how can they determine who becomes the flag bearer? These people have turned to comedians.”