The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, has congratulated the winner of Friday’s governorship primary of the party in Edo State, Olumide Akpata, saying he can win the governorship election slated for September 2024.
Akpata, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, polled 316 votes to beat his closest rivals, Ken Imasuangbon and Prof Sunny Eromosele, who scored seven votes each.
Sergius Ògún garnered four votes, Earnest Àyègbè scored three votes, and Paul Iseghohi withdrew from the race.
While calling on other aspirants to eschew bitterness by collapsing their structures for the success of the party’s candidate at the poll, Abure appealed for a united front.
The chairman made the appeal in a congratulatory message released by his media team in Abuja on Saturday.
He said, “I want to congratulate the Labour Party for having a free, fair and seamless primaries. You recall that I have always called and stood for a free, fair and credible elections and that is what has played out in our primaries.
“I therefore want to congratulate the winner of the primary election, Olumide Akpata, for recording the highest number of votes which made him the candidate of the party. I want to assure him of all our supports to ensure that we win the governorship election in September, 2024. We will not rest on our oars until that is achieved.
“We believe that Edo State at this point in time needs the best of the bests to man the Osadebey Avenue and today, Labour Party has selected one of its bests as the candidate of the party. If you juxtapose him with all other candidates that have emerged from the other political parties, it is clear that he stands out. We therefore congratulate him and we all will work towards the success of his candidacy in governorship election.
“Primary election usually comes with a lot of tension, bickering, politicking and horse-trading. However, now that the primary is over and a candidate has emerged, I want to call on all Labour Party faithful, particularly, those who have lost at the primaries to team up with the candidate so that we can all work in unity and togetherness for the victory of the party.
“Whatever errors we have made or pains any party member may have suffered in the process of this party primaries, we want to call on all and sundry to put it behind them and let us all come together as a united family to work for the success of the party ahead of the election.
“We equally call on the candidate to be magnanimous in victory by reaching out to all aggrieved members of the party. He must realise that he needs the support of all party members to win the general election.”
Meanwhile, the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the party has disowned Akpata, saying he is not their candidate in the state.
In a letter dated February 22 and addressed to the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the faction identified Anderson Asemota as its governorship candidate and Monday Mawah as his running mate.
When contacted, the spokesman for the Lamidi Apapa camp, Abayomi Arabambi, confirmed that the two politicians are their chosen candidates.
He said, “The only Labour Party candidate we know is Barrister Anderson Asemota and his running mate, Monday Mawah. We don’t know anything about Akpata and where they got him from.”
