A pressure group within the Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP), under the umbrella of Shine Your Eyes Group (SYEG), on Thursday, in Benin City, commended President Bola Tinubu and the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State for adhering to the principles of fairness and equity in the choice of their party’s governorship candidate and running mate in the forthcoming governorship election.
The group, in a statement jointly signed by its chairman, Comrade Jonah Ifada, and secretary, Osagie Omoregie, said on the other hand, the LP has murdered sleep in Edo State when the leadership of the party decided to go against the core principles of fairness, equity and justice by producing a candidate from Edo South part of the State in a “skewed” primary election.
SYEG, in an apparent reaction to a news report credited to Benin Youth Council (BYC) on Wednesday where it appealed to Barrister Ken Imansuangbon to sheath his sword and join hands with the LP governorship candidate, Olumide Akpata, said Akpata should rather step down for a more popular Imansuangbon to avoid embarrassment at the September, 2024 governorship election in the state, noting that it was not the turn of Edo South to produce another governor.
The group argued, “Look at what President Tinubu and the leadership of APC did in Edo State. They decided to abide by the principle of fairness, equity and justice which are fundamental to any development just like what the PDP did. The Labour Party should have taken a cue from the APC.
“Are you saying Olumide Akpata is more popular than great and experienced politicians like Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Lucky Imansuen and others who decided to drop their ambition in support of zoning? Akpata should do the needful and step down for Imansuangbon now and save the Labour Party from shame. Imansuagbon has vowed to fight his case to a logical conclusion.”
Recall that Imansuangbon had approached the court to challenge the emergence of Olumide Akpata as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party.
Imansuangbon, in his petition, stated that Akpata committed offences ranging from giving false information to the acquisition of citizenship of another country, which is a grand departure from the Nigerian Constitution’s accepted norms.
The educationist wanted the court to determine whether Akpata “has not supplied or otherwise given false information to the INEC within the meaning or contemplation of the provisions of section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 read together with section 182(1) (a) and (j) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), among other allegations.”
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