The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja witnessed a clash between representatives of the Labour Party (LP) factions on Wednesday. The tribunal refused to acknowledge any representative of the party, except the first petitioner, Peter Obi, who was present in the courtroom.
Judiciary sources disclosed that the court had been informed of a disagreement between two factions of the party before the court proceedings commenced. Consequently, the court could not record the presence of Dudu Manuga, the National Women’s Leader of the Party who sat close to Obi.
While the representatives of either faction were presenting themselves before the court, Justice Haruna Tsammani interjected, stating that the court would not recognise any representative from the Labour Party. Justice Tsammani noted that there appeared to be a disagreement between the LP factions represented, and thus cannot accept any of the parties.
Prior to the court proceedings, factions of the Labour Party were seen in the Presidential Election Petitions Court, in a war of words over which faction of the party is the authentic one.
The LP-faction’s Lamidi Apapa was in the court, challenging the members of the party loyal to Julius Abure, as the High Court of the FCT had suspended Abure-led faction, which he noted remains valid till date.
The court adjourned the proceedings for the continuation of pre-hearing of Peter Obi’s petition after the drama was extinguished with the court’s intervention.
