Lamidi Apapa, the factional leader of the Labour Party, has provided justifications for why he would accept Bola Tinubu’s request to engage in conversation.
On Thursday’s Arise TV Morning Show, Apapa was asked if he would accept Tinubu’s offer for reconciliation talks. In response, Apapa indicated that if the party approved the meeting, he would meet with the former governor of Lagos State.
“I will talk with the party executive before honoring him, so if they ask me to proceed, I will. If the executive gives the go-ahead, then that becomes our stance.
“I won’t be taking that post. If they state, “Go see him,” or “We’re going to see him,” it becomes the party’s position rather than Alhaji Bashiru Lamidi Apapa’s viewpoint.
“We’ll all visit him together, I’m sure of it. The factional chairman stated, “If we get the support of the house, we will see him.
According to The PUNCH, the groups loyal to Apapa and Julius Abure got into a fight on Wednesday at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, worsening the leadership crisis roiling the Labour Party.
Abure’s position as the National Chairman of the LP had been suspended by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
However, the tense relationship between the two sides came to a head when Apapa was threatened by a group of enraged LP members on the court grounds, but police officers’ swift action prevented a stampede and stabilized the situation.
The two factions’ struggle for recognition was followed by the uproar outside the court.
The various factions of the party engaged in a verbal spat about which faction was the genuine one just before the court met to resume the pre-hearing of the petition brought by the LP and its presidential candidate against the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Apapa refuted allegations that he accepted a bribe from Tinubu in response to the attack by enraged LP members.
“Regarding the claim that bribes were accepted, it is untrue. Bring your proof if you have it that I have gathered money or that we have collected money from anyone. It is completely false, stated Apapa.
The factional leader added that Peter Obi, the LP’s presidential candidate in the election for president on February 25, needed to be made an example of.
“With regards to Peter Obi taking sides, I don’t want to expose him, but he merits it. He (Obi) said in a previous interview that he doesn’t even know who I am.
“I’ve tried to protect him, but he is not deserving of it. The following are the reasons: I led the opening prayer for this individual during his primary in Asaba. I also wasn’t a junior officer. I served as the party’s deputy national chairman. I’ve been in this party for 21 years. To get to where I am now in this party, I held numerous roles.
Obi’s initial campaign got underway in Benin. He and I were both in Benin. And we hired his airplane to fly us from Benin to Abuja. Additionally, I oversaw the group that welcomed him to Afe Babalola University in Ekiti when he visited. We spent more than two hours there. I led the squad there by myself. And he’s unaware of me?
