Labour Party (LP) has accused its suspended former acting National Chairman, Lamidi Apapa of misrepresentation of facts in the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Owerri division, which was delivered on Thursday.
LP National Secretary, Malam Umar Farouk, at a press conference on Friday, said the judgement was a dispute between aspirants who participated in the primary organised by the Apapa group for the Imo State governorship election.
Farouk stated that the judgement had nothing to do with the position of Julius Abure as the LP National Chairman, nor Senator Athan Achonu as the party’s Imo State governorship candidate.
“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 (Basil) 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 Barrister 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 properly conducted primaries by Abure-led NWC,” he asserted.
The certified true copy (CTC) of the judgement made available by the Apapa group, listed Sir Maduka as the appellant while the LP, Chief and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were the respondents.
Also, the Appeal Court, in the judgement delivered by Justice Joseph Oyewole, noted that “it is improper for this court to make any pronouncement on the leadership dispute of the 1st respondent (LP) in this appeal as nothing in this notice of appeal herein justifies it.
“It is improper for a court to go beyond the dispute submitted before it and make a pronouncement on extraneous matters.”
The LP National Secretary maintained that no court has given judgment de-recognising Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, arguing that Senator Achonu remains the party’s governorship candidate.
He disclosed that the party has appealed against the Bayelsa court that recognised Ukaegbu as the LP candidate “on the ground that it lacks the jurisdiction to entertain a suit filed by the Apapa camp without putting the leadership of the party which is known to law, into notice.
“Senator Achonu who was also not a party to the suit filed by Sir Maduka but on hearing about the matter before the Federal High Court, sought to be joined as an interested party.”
Farouk recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City affirmed Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), and accused opponents of sponsoring a crisis in the party.
