The leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party, LP came to the fore at the Presidential Election Petition Court, (PEPC) with a clash between the two factions of the party creating drama that marred the day’s proceedings.
The LP and its candidate, Peter Obi are before the court to challenge the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the presidential election that was held on February 25.
At the court, the factional chairman of the party, Lamidi Apapa, who attempted to announce himself as a representative of the party, made his way to a chair that was reserved for the National Chairman of the LP, which is the second petitioner in the matter.
Obi was already seated by the time Apapa moved to take possession of the seat which was occupied by the Director General of the party’s presidential campaign groups, Akin Osuntokun.
Apapa was immediately blocked from having access to the chair, by members of the party.
Sensing that his spirited effort to sit close to Obi would not yield any fruit, the LP’s factional chairman quickly relocated to the line of chairs that were reserved for members of the public.
When the court eventually commenced its sitting by 9 am, Apapa stood up and introduced himself as the Acting National Chairman of the LP, shortly after a lady, Dabu Managun, had identified herself as a national officer representing the party.
Following the development, Justice Haruna Tsammani-led’s five-member panel of the court said it would not recognize any of them except Obi.
Meanwhile, another bout of crisis kicked off after the court adjourned the petition till Friday for the continuation of the pre-hearing session.
Apapa, while stepping out of the courtroom, attempted to address the media.
He positioned himself before the waiting cameras after Peter Obi’s lead counsel, Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, finished speaking to newsmen on what transpired during the court session.
Just as Apapa was getting set for questions, a group of youths that identified themselves as “Obidients”, pushed him away from the cameras, insisting that he lacked the right to speak for the party.
In the commotion that ensued, with Apapa being pushed back and forth by the aggrieved youths, his ‘Agbada’ was torn, even as someone snatched his cap from his head.
It took the intervention of armed security operatives to pull the factional LP chairman away from the mob, as chants of “ole, ole, ole” rented the air.
He was subsequently taken into protective custody by policemen attached to the court and later released around 1 pm on Wednesday.
Obi had since left the court premises before the drama ensued.
It will be recalled that Apapa, who is currently entangled in a legal dispute with executives of the LP that conducted the primary election that produced Obi as a presidential flag-bearer, had earlier directed all the lawyers handling the petition to report to him for briefing.
Addressing a press conference shortly after he was released from protective custody, Apapa, thanked God for saving his life.
He maintained that he was in court to assert himself as the leader of the party and to confirm the state of things regarding the petition against the outcome of the presidential election.
He told newsmen that he had before the court began its proceedings, sensed that there would be trouble, after Osuntokun, refused to vacate the chair for him.
“I went to him and inquired to know in what capacity he was sitting on the seat. I told him that since I am in court today, I am the right person to sit on that chair,” he stated.
On how he was mobbed, Apapa said: “They pounced on me, removed my cap and I am very sure that if not that you people (journalists) were there, I would have been dead by now.”
He accused Obi of being aware that he would be attacked by thugs, disclosing that he was earlier warned at a meeting that was held on Tuesday to broker peace between the warring factions in the party, not to attend the court session.
“They threatened that if I appear in court that something would happen”, Apampa added, even as he denied an allegation that he collected N500 million to scuttle Obi’s petition against the President-elect, Tinubu.
While branding Obi “a liar” for saying that he does not know him, Apapa said he actively participated in all the campaigns the party held before the presidential election and also flew back to Abuja with Obi in the same aircraft on one of the occasions.
“I want to tell the whole world that he is a liar. I have been in the party for over 21 years while he is not even up to one year in the party.
“I have never taken any kobo from anybody and I have challenged anyone that has any evidence to bring it forward”.
While insisting that he contributed more to the party than Obi, Apapa, said it was not true that he was in court to withdraw the petition against Tinubu.
“Apart from money, what else does he (Obi) have that I don’t have?” he queried.
Besides, he accused Obi of refusing to respect a subsisting court order that suspended the Julius Abure-led executives of the party.
On the issue that led to the removal of his cap by angry youths, he said: “As you can see, I have recovered my cap. But as for the person that removed my cap, he will suffer till the end of his life.
“I saw him. He is a young chap but he will never grow old,” he added.
Meantime, Obi had earlier in the proceedings, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of frustrating his petition.
He alleged that despite the order of the court, the electoral body refused to make available to him, some of the electoral materials that were used for the presidential election.
Obi, through his lawyer, told the court that among documents INEC “has stubbornly refused to provide”, including results of the presidential election from Rivers State.
“My Lords, up till now we are yet to get about 70 percent of all the documents we required from INEC.
“We have made efforts, including meeting with the Chairman of INEC who committed that the documents would be made available to us, yet nothing happened.
“We have also met the legal department of INEC which promised to intervene. Some documents were provided but not up to 30 per cent.
“A typical example is that of Rivers State where the Resident Electoral Commissioner boldly told us that they do not have any Form EC8A available to give us.
“We required that he should put it in writing but that was not done.
“INEC has stubbornly refused to provide the documents notwithstanding that I led the team on five different occasions to INEC headquarters.
“I have written five letters to INEC, clearly requesting for documents, they refused,”, Uzoukwu, SAN, told the court, insisting that his team would not be able to effectively establish their case without access to the electoral materials.
He, therefore, notified the court of his intention to apply for a subpoena to be issued against the INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.
Responding, INEC’s lead lawyer, A. B. Mahmood, SAN, told the court that it was not true that the petitioners were denied access to the documents they requested for.
He told the court that there were protocols involved in the process of releasing such documents, among which he said included payment of copies and certification.
Mahmood, SAN, told the court that whereas Obi refused to pay the sum of N1.5m for certification of materials he requested concerning results from Sokoto state, he also rejected some documents from Rivers state on the ground that all the documents he requested should be released to him at the same time.
Mahmood, SAN, further told the court that Obi’s legal team walked out on a meeting the parties held on May 16, where they had agreed to put heads together to sort out some of the documents.
“My lords, the commission is committed to cooperating with both parties and the court to ensure an expeditious hearing of this case.
“If there is any issue that is brought to my attention, it will be resolved. The PDP, even though they are not here, are cooperating and receiving what they request”, INEC’s lawyer added.
On his part, the President-elect, Tinubu, through his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, told the court that he had no problem as INEC provided all the documents he needed to defend his election victory.
He commended INEC’s legal team for assisting to ensure the availability of the requested materials.
Tinubu blamed Obi’s inability to get the electoral materials on his refusal to pay the required fee for certification.
More so, Olanipekun, SAN, argued that Obi could not at this stage of the case, apply for a subpoena to be issued against the INEC and its Chairman.
“On our part my lord, we are always ready,” Tinubu’s lawyer added.
Counsel for the APC, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, also attributed Obi’s inability to get the electoral materials to his refusal to pay the necessary fees provided by the law.
“It is in the interest of everybody that this matter is quickly disposed of,” Fagbemi, SAN, added.
While adjourning the matter, Justice Tsammani-led’s panel drew the attention of the parties that the 14 days period allowed for the pre-hearing session to be conducted on the petition, would elapse by Sunday.
He warned that the court would not extend the period.
Obi’s lawyer said he was enthusiastic that INEC’s lawyer, Mahmood, SAN, would prevail on the commission to release the required documents to his team, before Friday.
Specifically, the LP candidate, Obi, in the joint petition he filed alongside his party, marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023, is praying the court to declare that the President-elect, Tinubu, was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.
The petitioners are urging the court to declare that since Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election, therefore, his return as the winner of the presidential election, was unlawful, unconstitutional, and of no effect whatsoever.
“That it is determined that based on the valid votes cast at the presidential election of 25th February 2023, the 1st Petitioner scored the highest number of votes cast at the election and not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states of the federation and the FCT, Abuja, and ought to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election.
“An order directing the 1st Respondent to issue the Certificate of Return to the 1st Petitioner as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
As well as; “That it be determined that the Certificate of Return wrongly issued to the 2nd Respondent by the 1st Respondent is null and void and be set aside”.
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