LP Calls For Calm After Court Sacked Lagos Lawmaker

The Labour Party has urged supporters in Lagos state to remain calm over news of the sack of the Lawmaker representing Ojo constituency in Lagos State, Seyi Sowunmi.

National Legal Adviser of the party, Mr. Kehinde Edun, made the call while briefing newsmen in Abuja.

Mr. Edun who dismissed reports of the sack of Sowunmi, insisted that he remains the valThe Labour Party has urged supporters in Lagos state to remain calm over news of the sack of the Lawmaker representing Ojo constituency in Lagos State, Seyi Sowunmi.id member representing Ojo constituency, until an appeal on the ruling is concluded”.

He explained that the party will exhaust all means until the Supreme Court rules on the matter.

He said a three-man panel led by Justice Abdullahi Ozegya declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lanre Ogunyemi, as the duly elected candidate of the election conducted on February 25, 2023.

Similarly, the National Secretary of the party, Mallam Umar Farouk, has accused the governing All Progressives Congress of deploying various strategies aimed at “subjugating” and “stifling” the opposition party.

Farouk alleged that the APC has being sponsoring “insurrection amongst some suspended former members of the party, like Lamidi Apapa and a few others.

He alleged that the heavily funded dissidents have tried to mislead the courts and some section of the media to harass the party leadership but all have failed.

“Only recently, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of Labour Party (LP).” He added.

“Only yesterday, the Court of Appeal Owerri, which sat in Abuja, while giving judgement in the case brought before it by one Basil Maduka, one of the two aspirants that were deceived by the Apapa camp to participate in their illegal primaries also ordered that the status quo remains with Senator Athan Achonu as the validly nominated candidate of Labour Party for 2023 Imo governorship election”.

It noted that Basil Maduka had no locus to seek redress in the court as he is not known by the Labour Party.

“For emphasis, you may recall that the Apapa group had hoodwinked and arranged governorship primaries for two members of the Labour Party, namely Chief Ukaegbu Ikechukwu and Sir Maduka, after which Ukaegbu won the contest. Maduka was piqued by the outcome of the fake primaries and had gone ahead to challenge the emergence of Ukaegbu. He sued both Ukaegbu and the Labour Party”.

“Neither the authentic Labour Party led by Julius Abure nor its candidate Senator Athan Achonu was put on notice and were not aware of the situation. The case was decided on behalf of Ukaegbu against Maduka.

“The matter has nothing to do with the leadership of the party or the candidacy of Senator Achonu, a product of a properly conducted primaries by the Abure led NWC” he stressed.

Georgina Humphrey, Edited By Grace Namiji