Headlines
LP Chairmen Reject Apapa, Say He Remains Suspended, Can’t Screen Candidates for Elections
Labour Party state chairmen on Wednesday cautioned the Lamidi Apapa-led group not to screen candidates for the off-circle election because they remain suspended officials.
Mr Kehinde Rotimi, the Kwara chairman of LP, made the call while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
Rotimi, who is also the chairman of Forum of States LP chairmen said that screening was currently ongoing for the off-circle governorship elections for Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states.
“We were at the screening yesterday when we learnt that some people constituted themselves in the party’s Secretariat to screen some candidates for the elections.
“We have our own screening committee. The committee has screened many candidates.
“We came here today to meet at our secretariat but we discovered that it was under lock and key.”
Rotimi said that the chairmen resisted the temptation to cause commotion to avoid contempt of court since the matter was now a legal issue.
”If someone goes to court to accuse someone of an offence or crime, the person must be heard according to the provisions of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“In this case, you accused four principal officers of the party of a very serious offence but they have not been heard by the court. The next thing we are hearing is they should stop parading themselves as officers of LP.
“We are part of the chairmen council, which is a very integral part of NEC and have the final authority to rectify any decision taken by the party. ”
Rotimi said that the NEC had not met to decide if Apapa and other suspended members would be called back from suspension but they were already parading themselves as officers which was bad.
Also speaking, Mr Ogboloi Kelly, Edo LP chairman said that the National Working Committee was an integral part of the NEC so it was illegal for a small fraction of it to break into the party’s office and install themselves as leaders.
Kelly said that it was an illegitimate act and therefore it would not be condoned.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that there was pandemonium at the party’s headquarters.
The Apapa’s group, made up of seven members of the NWC of the Party, installed the National Vice-Chairman (South), LamidiApapa, as the acting chairman of the party to replace Julius Abure.
They said they were acting on the judgement of the Federal Capital Territory High Court which restrained Abure from parading himself as the National Chairman of the party.
However, the 36 state chairmen of the party forced their way into the party’s headquarters, insisting that Abure remained the party’s leader.
Former Youth Leader of the party, Anslem Eragbe, who was suspended by the NWC, while reacting to the incident said that the Apapa group was acting on the court judgement delivered.
“They were merely acting in accordance with the party’s constitution. We are worried over the bad treatment meted on Apapa,” he said.
NAN
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
