The Labour Party (LP) candidate for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, Olumide Akpata, has affirmed Kelly Ogbaloi as the authentic chairman of the party in the state.
InfoStride News reports that Akpata endorsed the Ogbaloi-led state executive during an enlarged party meeting in Benin City, attended by local government chairmen and secretaries.
Akpata emphasized that there is no legal basis for the removal of the embattled chairman and his executives.
He described the leadership crisis within the party as a distraction and maintained that there are no two chairmen in the party.
“I am a lawyer with 30 years of practice and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In this situation, you follow the rules,” Akpata stated.
“As a member of the Labour Party and a key stakeholder, I have not seen any instrument appointing anyone else as chairman of the Labour Party.
We know the procedure for changing the state working committee, and I have not seen that procedure being activated.”
Akpata noted that a party member who claims to be the chairman has taken the entire party structure to court, with the case ongoing at the Federal High Court in Benin City.
He stressed that the best practice is to maintain the status quo until a legal directive is issued.
“I am aligning with legitimacy, and the law supports Ogbaloi. We have party organs responsible for our structure, and no letter has come from these organs stating that the Ogbaloi EXCO has been removed.”
“As far as I am concerned, the chairman of the Labour Party in Edo today is Kelly Ogbaloi,” Akpata declared.
The Labour Party governorship candidate expressed confidence that the leadership crisis would not affect his chances of winning the election.
He argued that the electorate would focus on his message rather than internal party disputes.
“I don’t think any voter in Benin City or other parts of the state would say, ‘I won’t vote for Akpata or the Labour Party because they are quarrelling’.
Voters will listen to the message I have for them, and if they are convinced, they will vote for me. If not, they won’t,” Akpata concluded.
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