There was drama in the presidential petition election on Wednesday 17 May 2023 as two factions of the Labor Party clashed.
There was a mild drama between Julius Aburi and Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labor Party (LP) over which group will stand trial.
The trouble started when the faction leader of the party, Lamidi Apapa, entered the courtroom with some of his supporters.
Apapa, who was at loggerheads with the suspended party chairman, Julius Aburi, were both at the tribunal to witness proceedings of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who had challenged the winning of the newly elected president, Bola Tinnuba.
Although Abure did not appear in court, some key members of the party including Obidatti’s General Manager of the presidential campaign, Akin Osuntokun, were present.
They engage in a shouting match with the Apapa faction. “Who are you?” the party functionary asked Apapa, who also shouted back, “Who are you?”
Meanwhile, when the judges arrived to begin the day’s proceedings, they refused to recognize party representatives except for the appearance of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The tribunal refused to take cognizance representation of the Labor party because the acting national president of the party, Lamidi Apapa, as well as the national women’s leader of the party, Dudu Manugu, tried to represent at the sametime when the petition was announced.
Meanwhile, Judge Haruna Tsamani said if there were two people to represent a party at the same time, they would not be allowed.