The Bashiru Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party (LP) has announced that the inauguration of President-elect, Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as Nigeria’s next President on May 29th will proceed despite the ongoing leadership crisis within the party. In a recent statement, the faction also urged the Inspector-General of Police to arrest anyone who advocates for an interim government, including the LP’s own presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
According to Abayomi Arabambi, the national publicity secretary of the Lamidi Apapa-led faction, nobody is above the law of the land. Anyone who tries to disrupt the transition process and the inauguration of Tinubu should be arrested and prosecuted, regardless of their status in society.
Arabambi further warned that if the LP’s legal team failed to meet Lamidi Apapa, the acting national chairman of the party, within 48 hours, the National Working Committee (NWC) would appoint new lawyers to take over the party’s case at the election petition tribunal in Abuja.
Arabambi disputed Peter Obi’s call for an interim administration and challenged the legitimacy of his argument that Tinubu should not be sworn in as President. The LP came third in the election behind the PDP, and according to Arabambi, they are not challenging the PDP’s votes, which they believe were allocated lawfully. He criticized Obi for excluding the PDP from the LP’s challenge to the election results, stating that he should be ashamed of himself for challenging Tinubu’s victory while ignoring the PDP’s second-place finish.
Arabambi concluded by reiterating that everyone must obey the laws of the land and that security agencies in the country must act to prevent any attempts to disrupt the inauguration of the President-elect or undermine the transition process