Edo Guber: ‘Labour Party Leadership Plotting To Handpick A Candidate’ – Olumide Akpata Raises Alarm

Labour Party (LP) aspirant for the Edo governorship election, Olumide Akpata, has alleged that the party leadership is plotting to handpick a candidate for the election.

Naija News recalls that the LP had initially fixed February 22 as the date for the conduct of its primary but later shifted it to February 23.

However, Akpata, in a letter dated February 18 and addressed to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, said the party is not prepared for its primary election.

The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) also alleged a lack of transparency in the party’s planned process to produce a gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming election, forcing many aspirants to withdraw from the race.

Akpata added that his attempts to get the leadership of the party to provide accountability fell on deaf ears.

The letter reads, “I write to you in my capacity as an aspirant for the Edo State gubernatorial ticket on the platform of the Labour Party.

“The purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention the lack of preparedness and transparency surrounding the Labour Party’s planned primaries to produce a gubernatorial candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in Edo State.

“As you are aware, the Electoral Act 2022 mandates political parties to conduct transparent primaries to produce candidates and also mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission (“INEC” or “the Commission”) to stipulate timelines for conducting these primaries.

“Numerous aspirants, including myself, have observed with dismay the conspicuous absence of transparency in the process, which has led to a mass exodus of aspirants from the race.

“All of the aspirants, without exception, who have withdrawn from the process so far, have voiced concerns about its undemocratic nature.

“While some have diplomatically cited “personal reasons” for withdrawing, others have been more forthcoming in directly alleging that the Party leadership plans to handpick a preferred aspirant regardless of the outcome of any primaries held.

“I have become constrained to speak out at this point because my repeated attempts to get the Party leadership to see reason and provide transparency around preparations for the primaries have failed to elicit any positive response.

“Rather, my candid inquiries have been met with disdain and an attempt to bully me into silence.

“I am aware that INEC has demonstrated courage in the past to stand on the side of due process in political parties and entrench internal Party democracy. The LP’s primaries in Edo State provide you with another opportunity to walk the talk.

” Mr Chairman, if things go awry, it could result in pre-election disputes to which INEC will inevitably be joined as a necessary party, thereby tying down its already meagre resources and leaving the Commission to grapple with yet another unnecessary and avoidable display that could have been averted had the right thing been done and the warning signs heeded.”