‘Lagos LP disaster could nullify Obi’s candidacy­’

The factional chairman and governorship candidate of the Labour Occasion in Lagos State, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, has stated makes an attempt by some individuals within the social gathering to usurp his positions because the “bonafide chairman and governorship candidate of the social gathering” can result in the nullification of the presidential candidacy of Peter Obi.

Awamaridi, who spoke Saturday PUNCH in a phone interview on Friday, stated he was neither eliminated nor changed by any constitutional process.

He added that there was a subsisting case in courtroom on the matter.

The Lagos State chapter of the LP has been enmeshed in management disaster almost about the positions of the chairman and the governorship candidate.

Awamaridi additionally acknowledged that his title remained listed because the governorship candidate by the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee.

Awamaridi stated, “There’s a governorship candidate of the social gathering, which has been revealed by INEC, and that candidate has not withdrawn, and that candidate has not died.

“For somebody to say that he’s organising a second main election, that particular person is a political comic. They (some members of the nationwide management) have been compromised by cash as a result of no matter they’re doing doesn’t have any cerebral foundation.”

Talking on the state chairmanship place of the social gathering, he stated, “I’m nonetheless the state chairman of the LP. You may go and confer with the structure of the Labour Occasion. There’s a process for eradicating an officer from the social gathering.

“You could be eliminated by the Nationwide Govt Council in case you are a nationwide officer, however in case you are a state officer, you could be eliminated by the congress.

You can’t be appointed to a place besides by the NEC on the nationwide degree or the State Govt Council or the congress of that state.

Extra so, you don’t simply take away an officer; there have to be a cause. Whether it is on disciplinary points, that particular person should have gone by a disciplinary course of.

“The doc with which they stated they appointed Kayode Salako was disclosed by a press assertion on July 23, 2022, and it was fraudulently backdated to the 18th of Might 2022.

“That doc can by no means maintain water. Within the first place, he (Salako) shouldn’t be a member of the LP; he’s a member of the All Progressives Congress.

“Moreover, it implies that Peter Obi shouldn’t be the presidential candidate of the LP. It implies that as of the 18th of Might, Kayode Salako was the Chairman of LP.

“I, because the Chairman of the LP, Lagos State, led the delegates from Lagos that elected Peter Obi to be the presidential candidate on Might 30, 2022 (on the particular conference).

“So, you are actually saying that the delegates that went to the conference from Lagos State are unlawful and that delegates that went to that main election have been faulty, and that the conference is tantamount to be invalidated.

“Events are actually going for the Licensed True Copies of that doc in Abuja as a result of they wish to use it in opposition to Peter Obi. The second you may show that the first was faulty, you invalidate the congress and then you definitely nullify the candidate of the social gathering.

“That’s what the originators of the Labour Occasion wish to obtain, having been compromised with monetary gratification or different issues.

 In response to Awamaridi, the Nationwide Publicity Secretary of the social gathering, Abayomi Arabambi, claimed that that they had not been served any discover on the matter.

Arabambi stated Awamaridi had ceased to be a member of the social gathering as a result of he had not attended the stipulated variety of conferences and didn’t pay his dues, in line with the social gathering’s structure. He additionally debunked the alleged menace on the candidacy of Peter Obi.

Arabambi defined that his (Awamaridi) title would get replaced as governorship candidate with Gbadebo-Rhodes Vivour on October 4 by INEC.

The social gathering’s Nationwide Publicity Secretary informed Saturday PUNCH stated, “INEC has pronounced October 4 because the final day that they’re going to publish names of the particular person they substituted.

“The truth that the title remains to be there doesn’t confer legality on him. It’s simply in line with INEC’s timetable.

“It’s apparent that he doesn’t know what he’s speaking about. If folks come and vote for a presidential candidate and you’ve got three months tenure as a caretaker, as soon as your three months expires, a lot of your actions will probably be engaged by the brand new folks.

“The nationwide management shouldn’t be at liberty to increase your tenure as a result of stress from anyone. It’s not in his purview to say that the folks that got here to the conference, as soon as he’s now not within the government of the social gathering, the method could be a nullity.”