Lamidi Apapa: Playing dog in a manger

Adebayo Obajemu

Bashir Lamidi Apapa, a largely unknown politician a couple of months ago, has come into political reckoning as a Labour Party strongman not for helping “his” party to win elections but for presiding over demolition plans of the promising party that performed more than bookmakers’ predictions in the last presidential, national and state assemblies elections and even produced a governor-elect in Abia State.

Just from the blues, Apapa, said to be from Oyo State and in his 70s, is laying claim to the chairmanship of the Labour Party.

A fragment of the membership of the party led by the said Apapa had gone to court to obtain an order restraining Julius Abure from parading himself as the party’s national chairman. But, the owners of the political platform, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has come out to declare that despite the shenanigans of some disgruntled former members, Abure remains in office as national chairman.

According to Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon, a political scientist, the action of Apapa amounts to a betrayal, disloyalty and a coup against his own party.

“I think the career of this Apapa is something that should bother lovers of democracy. He is behaving like Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian traitor, who betrayed his country to the Nazis,” he said.

Following the Abuja court declaration, Apapa, who is now laying claim to the chairmanship of the party even when state chairmen have passed vote of confidence on Julius Abure, the substantive chairman, had declared the Asaba National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party called by Abure two weeks ago as illegal, stating that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi not qualified to rule the country.

Apapa further said the presence of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, at the Asaba meeting had exposed him as disobedient to the Federal High Court Order in Abuja, which sustained the restraining order on the National Chairman of the Labour Party and three others from parading themselves as officials of the Party.

In a statement released by Apapa faction, last week, it said: “that following the anti-party activities and disobedience to order of the FCT High Court through the illegal suspension and expulsion of national working committee members under the leadership of Alh. Bashiru Lamidi Apapa, the NWC members meet this afternoon, after receiving information and letter by the restrained former national chairman Julius Abure and former National Secretary inviting elected members of national assembly to observed their illegal NEC meeting of our party.

“By this rascality exhibited by this miscreants, the national working committee of our party led by Alhaji Lamidi Apapa hereby, suspend the following officers with immediate effects;

Ladi Iliya, Deputy National Chairman NLC, Ayo Olorunfemi, Deputy National Chairman TUC, Kennedy Chigozie Ahanotu, Deputy National Secretary, Dudu Manuga, National Women Leader and Innocent Okeke, National Vice Chairman South East.

The statement signed by Arabambi stated that “the party also frown at the gross misconduct of Mr. Peter Obi, who is vigorously pursuing ethnic cleansing.

“Peter Obi’s mission was to amputate the Labour party structure so that he and his gang of ethnic bigots would take over the party and fix his wife as the new national women leader of the party to continue his trade.

“We want the world to know that Peter Obi was not properly nominated as our party flag bearer, which we pointed out to him and the reason he wanted all of us oppose to his illegal candidacy out by all means.

“Peter Obi is not fit to govern Nigeria for his involvement in the gross disobedience to the FCT High court order as this is an evidence that he will cause civil unrest, turn Nigeria to banana republic and lawlessness, where rule of law will be a things of the past.

“Finally, the national working committee of our party hereby dissolved the presidential campaign council with immediate effects,” Arabambi stated.

But Julius Abure, embattled Labour Party National Chairman, in a statement said that despite the court judgment he remains the substantive chairman, as the party would challenge the judgment over jurisdictional matters.

Abure, who frowned at the insistence of the court to hear the matter despite preliminary objection by the defendant (LP), expressed hope that the Court of Appeal would quash the lower court’s decision on the suit.

The statement reads: “We had obeyed the court’s restraining order and by today, the court gave a ruling, assuming jurisdiction.

“And for me, I am ready to go for an appeal. In the next few hours, we will be submitting our notice of appeal to the court and we will move all the matter from that court and take it to the Court of Appeal.

“I believe that I will get justice in the Court of Appeal. I believe that the Labour Party will get justice in the Court of Appeal. Because this same court in FCT in 2023 in the case of Suleiman v APC did the same thing and the Law Report decided by the Supreme Court made it very clear that the court has no jurisdiction over such matter.

“That is where we are standing and we believe that whatever the court has said today can’t stand before the Court of Appeal.

“I believe that the Court of Appeal will do the right thing and, therefore, all our papers will be filled today and by Monday the appeal will commence. And so I want to assure all our supporters, all our members that they should remain calm, I remain the National Chairman of the Labour Party.

However, legal analysts believe that Obi may have foreseen this challenge, when he filed his petition by being included personally, as a party, because even if the party were to withdraw the petition, Obi may still pursue it on personal participation.