By John Alechenu

ABUJA — The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Lamidi Apapa, has stated that under his leadership, the party expects its 2023 Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, to take the lead in reconciliation efforts in Anambra State, his home state, ahead of the November 2025 governorship election.

Apapa made this statement in an interview with Vanguard on Monday in Abuja.

He remarked, “I’m not trying to condemn our Presidential candidate. There is need for him to do certain things which he has abandoned. On the Anambra issue, fortunately, he is from Anambra State. There is a crisis in Anambra, and he cannot resolve it alone. We would expect that our Presidential candidate wades into it.”

He further stated, “Look at it, I’m from Oyo State. Since this crisis started, have you heard of any crisis in Oyo State? I interact with them, I have meetings. It is easy for him as Presidential candidate to wade into the situation in Anambra.”

Apapa also commented on the Supreme Court judgment that had resolved the Labour Party leadership tussle. He clarified that the judgment had only removed Barr. Julius Abure from the position of national chairman, paving the way for him, as the Deputy National Chairman, to take over the leadership of the party according to the constitutional provisions.

He explained, “When this Supreme Court judgment was given on the 4th of April, we were all expecting the Certified True Copy (CTC) because we didn’t want to speak until we got a copy of the CTC. Having gone through it, we saw that the Supreme Court said no court has the right to confer party leadership authority on anybody except the party itself.”

Apapa continued, “It is true that the Nenadi Usman group took the matter to court, but the court’s judgment was not specific enough to say you continue as chairman of the party or you cannot do so through legal means. The court didn’t say the entire executive of Abure should be punished for his offence. It was only Abure that was removed.”

He added, “When the judgment said go back and resolve your matter internally, the question now is, at the time, Abure was still laying claim to the national chairmanship, and the Usman group was also claiming leadership—they were even jubilating. Whereas the Supreme Court judgment did not impose leadership on anybody, but rather, it said go back and sort yourselves out.”

Apapa concluded by emphasizing the need for the party to follow its constitution, citing Article 14 (a) and (b), which states that when the national chairman of the party is unable to perform their duties, the deputy chairman takes over in an acting capacity. This, he noted, was the legal basis for his assumption of the party’s leadership.