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BY: News Peddlers
Ifagbemi Awamaridi, the factional chairman and governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos State, has stated that attempts by some members of the party to usurp his positions as the "bonafide chairman and governorship candidate of the party" may result in the cancellation of Peter Obi's presidential candidacy.
In a phone interview with Saturday PUNCH on Friday, Awamaridi stated that he was not removed or replaced through any constitutional procedure.
He also stated that there was an ongoing court case on the subject.
The Lagos State chapter of the LP is embroiled in a leadership crisis over the positions of chairman and governorship candidate.
Awamaridi also stated that his name remained on the Independent National Electoral Commission's list of governorship candidates.
"There is a governorship candidate of the party who has been published by INEC, and that candidate has not withdrawn, and that candidate has not died," Awamaridi said.
"Anyone who claims to be organizing a second primary election is a political comedian." They (some members of the national leadership) have been compromised by money because whatever they are doing lacks a cerebral foundation."
"I am still the state chairman of the LP," he said of his party's state chairmanship position. "You can refer to the Labour Party's constitution. A procedure exists for removing an officer from the party."
"If you are a national officer, you can be removed by the National Executive Council; if you are a state officer, you can be removed by the Congress."
You can only be appointed to a position by the NEC at the national level, the State Executive Council, or the state congress.
"Furthermore, you don't just fire an officer; there has to be a reason. If it is about disciplinary issues, the individual must have gone through a disciplinary process.
"The document with which they claimed to have appointed Kayode Salako was made public via a press release on July 23, 2022, and it was fraudulently backdated to May 18, 2022."
"That document will never be accepted. First and foremost, he (Salako) is not a member of the LP; rather, he is a member of the All Progressives Congress.
"More so, it means that Peter Obi is not the LP's presidential candidate. Kayode Salako was the Chairman of LP as of May 18th.
"As Chairman of the Lagos State LP, I led the delegates from Lagos who elected Peter Obi as the presidential candidate on May 30, 2022." (at the special convention).
"So you're saying that the delegates from Lagos State who went to the convention were illegal, and that the delegates who went to the primary election were defective, and that the convention is therefore invalidated?"
"Parties are now seeking Certified True Copies of that document in Abuja in order to use it against Peter Obi. When you can demonstrate that the primary was flawed, you invalidate the congress and then the party's candidate.
"That is what the founders of the Labour Party want to achieve, having been compromised by financial gain or other factors."
In response to Awamaridi, the party's National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, stated that they had not been served with any notice regarding the matter.
Arabambi stated that Awamaridi was no longer a member of the party because he did not attend the required number of meetings and did not pay his dues, as required by the party's constitution. He also refuted the alleged threat to Peter Obi's candidacy.
Arabambi explained that INEC would replace his (Awamaridi's) name as governorship candidate with Gbadebo-Rhodes Vivour on October 4.
"INEC has proclaimed October 4 as the last day that they are going to publish names of the person they substituted," the party's National Publicity Secretary told Saturday PUNCH.
"The mere presence of his name does not confer legality on him." It is simply in accordance with INEC's timetable.
"It's clear he has no idea what he's talking about." If people come to vote for a presidential candidate and you have three months as a caretaker, many of your actions will be carried out by the new people.
"The national leadership is not under any obligation to extend your tenure in response to outside pressure." It is not within his purview to say that the people who attended the convention would be rendered ineffective once he is no longer on the executive committee of the party."
(PUNCH)