The Edo State Labour Party, LP, has found itself plunged into a gripping saga as the Alhaji Lamidi Apapa-led faction grapples with internal strife, with two contenders vying for the governorship candidacy in the upcoming September 21, 2024, election.
In a stunning turn of events, the Abure-led faction boldly endorsed Olumide Apata as its gubernatorial flagbearer following contentious primaries held in the heart of Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Friday, February 23, 2024.
However, amidst the political confusion, a parallel election was held on Saturday in Benin saw Dr. Hilton Idahosa clinch victory with a staggering 917 votes, leaving his closest rival trailing with a mere 17 votes, while the third contender scraped together a paltry 12 votes.
Yet, the plot thickened as revelations surface of a clandestine maneuver by Apapa, absent during the primary proceedings, who purportedly penned a covert missive to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday, February 22, 2024.
In the letter, signed by Apapa and Alhaji Saleh Lawan, acting as Acting National Chairman and Secretary respectively, the duo submitted the names of Messrs. Anderson Asemota and Monday Mawah as the party’s gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates.
‘‘We write to submit the names of our candidates that emerged from our governorship primary election conducted today (February 22, 2024) in Benin, Edo State.
‘‘You will recall that we had earlier notified the Commission about the conduct of our party governorship primary today and we hereby forward the names of our party flag bearer for the September 21, 2024 governorship election,’’ the letter, according to Vanguard, reads in part.
In response, a defiant Idahosa, a seasoned United Kingdom-based lawyer, rebuffed the purported missive as fraudulent.
He vehemently denied the existence of any primary election on Friday, February 22, asserting that the authentic election, which anointed him as the candidate, took place under the auspices of Labour Party state officials at the party’s secretariat on First East Circular Road, Benin City.
