Lamidi Apapa ‘Hijacks’ Labour Party, Declares Himself Chairman, Issues Fresh Orders

The Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party (South) Lamidi Apapa has led some other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to take over the party leadership.

Speaking on Thursday during an emergency meeting of the Labour Party National Working Committee (NWC), Apapa maintained that his action is in compliance with a recent court order which sacked Julius Abure as the LP National Chairman.

While declaring himself as the Acting National Chairman of the party, Apapa added that Saleh Lawan is the Acting National Secretary of the Labour Party.

He argued that before any different action can be taken by the party, the order issued by the Federal High Court restraining Abure and three others from parading themselves as national officers of the Labour Party must first be vacated.

Fresh Orders

During the emergency NWC meeting presided over by Apapa, the Executive Council members from Ogun State, Rivers State, and Gombe State were reinstated.

The suspension of Eragbe Anslem as the National Youth Leader and Yomi Arabambi as the National Publicity Secretary were also reversed.

Conflicting Court Orders?

Two courts have reportedly issued conflicting judg­ments on the sack of the national offi­cers of the Labour Party (LP).

Naija News recalls that Justice Hamza Muazu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territo­ry (FCT) had, on Wednesday, re­strained the National Chair­man of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure; National Sec­retary, Farouk Ibrahim; National Organising Secretary, Clement Ojukwu, and one other from parading them­selves as national officers of the party.

Justice Muazu gave the re­straining order upon an ex-par­te application argued by Chief James Onoja (SAN).

The plaintiffs in the suit marked CV/2930/2023 are Mar­tins John, Lucky Shaibu, Isah Ze­keri, Omogbai Frank, Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef, Job Elo­mah, and Abayomi Arabambi.

But in a twist, a state High Court sitting in Benin reportedly restrained the party from suspending its national officers till the deter­mination of the motion on notice.

This was made known in a statement on Wednesday by the LP National Secretary, Umar Farouk.