It is yet another harvest of crisis in the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP), as two candidates have emerged the party’s governorship candidate for the September 21, 2024 gubernatorial election from the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the party.
This latest development has brought to three the number of candidates from the party in its three contrasting primaries purportedly held from Thursday through Saturday of last week.
The latest candidate, Hilton Idahosa, a United Kingdom-based legal practitioner, was said to have emerged during a parallel primary of the Apapa-led faction held on Saturday, February 24, 2024, with 917 votes.
This is as the Abure-led faction of the party on Friday, February 23, 2024, declared Olumide Apata as its governorship candidate following the primary election conducted by it in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
It would be recalled that in the primary held by the party at Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre, Benin on Friday, February 23, 2024, Akpata, the immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), emerged winner with 416 votes to beat his closest rivals, Professor Sunny Eromosele and Mr. Kenneth Imansuagbon, who scored seven votes apiece.
However, while the Akpata victory train was on, a letter dated Thursday, February 22, 2024, surfaced, purportedly signed by Apapa, informing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the LP in Edo State had concluded its gubernatorial primaries and submitted the names of Mr. Anderson Uwadiae Asemote as the candidate, and Monday Ojore Mawah as deputy governorship candidate.
The letter signed by Apapa, as acting national chairman, and Alhaji Saleh Lawan, as acting national secretary, reads in part: ‘‘We write to submit the names of our candidates that emerged from our governorship primary election conducted today (February 22, 2024) in Benin, Edo State.
‘‘You will recall that we had earlier notified the commission about the conduct of our party governorship primary today and we hereby forward the names of our party flag bearer for the September 21, 2024 governorship election.’’
Reacting to the development, Idahosa, the newest candidate, described the purported letter from Apapa as fake.
He explained that the primary election which was earlier slated for Thursday, February 21, 2024, was shifted to Saturday February 24 to allow for exigencies.
According to him, there was no primary election conducted on Thursday, February 22, as purported in the said letter from Apapa to INEC.
Idahosa stressed that the election in which he emerged as the candidate was conducted by the Labour Party state officials at the factional secretariat of the party on First East Circular Road, Benin City.
He noted that the said letter was the handiwork of mischief-makers who were bent on causing disaffection within the ranks of the party.
Idahosa further noted that he had the backing of the state leaders and the party members, as well as that of Apapa and his team, adding that the true position of things would be made known in the coming days as his team was in dialogue with both the Apapa team and leaders of the party in the state.
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