Why Peter Obi cannot run for president in Labour Party by 2027 – Apapa’s faction

The Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labour Party has advised its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to seek another political platform for his presidential ambitions ahead of the 2027 elections.

This development comes following Obi’s appeal filed at the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict of the Presidential Election Petitions Court, which upheld President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.

The spokesman for the Apapa faction, Abayomi Arabambi, in a statement, said that Obi should not waste his time pursuing an appeal against Tinubu’s victory at the Supreme Court, noting that he lost the election due to alleged mismanagement of human resources.

“My advice is for him (Obi) to go and start preparing for 2027. But it has to be in another party, not in LP. We are not going to allow this kind of rascality to continue in 2027. We will look for a fresh candidate as far as we are concerned,” Arabambi said.

“Obi is free to go back to APGA to run, not the Labour Party. We don’t want to continue accommodating a character who believes no other person, other than himself, has anything upstairs. He is not a good manager of human resources. That was why he lost woefully.”

Arabambi also questioned Obi’s credibility, stating that Obi had not presented his B.Sc. certificate in his election form.

“Let me ask Obi, who is accusing President Bola Tinubu of certificate fraud, this question. Obi claimed he has a B.Sc. Did he present the B.Sc. in his form? Was it not the school certificate he wrote there? Why is he hiding his own B.Sc.? That is because he knew they could subpoena the vice chancellor or the registrar to come and confirm its authenticity.”

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, dismissed Arabambi’s threat, saying that the Apapa faction does not own the Labour Party.

Tanko said, “They (the Apapa faction) don’t own Labour Party. That’s why I don’t want to take issues with them. There is no need to give these people attention.”

The Labour Party’s National Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, also dismissed the Apapa faction’s attempts to influence the party’s direction, referring to them as “comedians” and “impostors.”

Edun stated that the Apapa faction had no authority over the party and referred to them as suspended members.

He added that the recognised leadership of the party is the one led by Julius Abure, as recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“As of today, the recognised leadership of the party is the one led by Abure and not Apapa or whatever they call themselves. We are not moved by anything they say. They are just comedians and mere impostors claiming to be what they are not. We know they will soon run out of steam. Nigerians no longer take them seriously because they are beginning to see through their games.”