Arambambi Oluwafemi, the Labour Party’s national publicity secretary, announced that the party would soon contest the appointment of a resident electoral commissioner.
They asserted that he had previously run for governor on behalf of the party in power, the All Progressives Congress.
At the press conference and reaffirmation of the LP’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour for governor of Lagos on Tuesday, Arabambi made this claim. He avoided mentioning the REC’s name.
President Muhammadu Buhari nominated 19 RECs, but it was previously reported that a coalition of civil society organizations had revealed that four of the RECs “fell short of the threshold of partisanship and pristine character.”
According to his statement, the Lagos State Labour Party is headed by the Chairman, Kayode Salako, six deputy chairpersons; Chief Seyi Sowunmi, Adeola Adebanjo, Lanre Adenuga, Tony Obi, Mr Ayinla and Olubunmi Odesanya, and the Secretary, Okpala Emeka.
While calling on Nigerians to vote for the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, he challenged the APC, Arabambi, saying, “We have a Mr President appointing people of questionable character against section 156 Subsection 1b, that says, people that have questionable character should not be appointed.
“A president will now appoint a former governorship candidate of the APC as a REC. So they think they can rig the election. I am telling the APC, your national chairman, your presidential candidate, and even President Buhari, that you cannot rig this election.
“APC should be prepared to vacate offices when Nigerians change the tide of elections and vote massively for a candidate of their choice. We are not only warning the APC, we are still going to challenge that appointment in court. The APC made their people Resident Electoral Commissioners, it is not acceptable. We are all joint owners of the Nigerian project.”
When questioned about the name of the party’s candidate for governor appearing on the Independent National Electoral Commission list, Arabambi responded that while Awamaridi’s name, who reportedly served as a stand-in candidate, was still listed on INEC’s list, the names of the party’s candidates for governor and house of representatives would be changed by INEC in October in accordance with the substitution primaries won by Rhodes-Vivour.
Arambambi said, “Simply to put the records straight, Awamaridi was the Chairman of the LP of the Lagos caretaker committee at one point. He was made a placeholder for the governorship primary election, thus his name was submitted as the governorship candidate since Lagos LP was yet to conclude all the required processes.
“The placeholder status given to Awamaridi was one from which he formally tendered an official resignation. Awamaridi’s resignation was willfully, voluntarily and clearly signed and tendered. Of course, documents don’t lie.
“Meanwhile, it is not in doubt that if he, Awamaridi, by any stretch felt or feels aggrieved, he knows that the courts are open to seeking legal redress because his tenure has expired as the chairman of the caretaker committee. He added, “He will have to prove whether he committed perjury or we committed perjury.”
He added, “LP, officially, and very strongly, re-affirms with authority that the winner of the substitution election on the platform of the LP, as the governorship candidate for 2023 for Lagos State, is Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour.”
After receiving the certificate of return of the governorship primary of the party, Rhodes-Vivour, in his speech, said, “It is time to move from a government of transformation by taxation to a government of transformation by genuine development.” He promised Lagos residents to deliver “Lagos that works for all.”
The governorship candidate bemoaned that the Lagos State Government under the APC had continued to frustrate its inhabitants under the pretence of developing the state while making references to the traffic congestion brought on by the maintenance work at the Otedola region of the state.
