Lamidi Apapa, the splinter group’s national chairman, has pledged to again storm the Presidential Petition Tribunal on Friday.
As they both asserted control over the party, Apapa and Mr Julius Abure’s groups fought at the court hearing on Wednesday, according to DAILY POST.
The hearing was postponed to Friday, May 19 because the court declined to recognise the two factions.
However, Apapa stated that he will appear in court on Friday while discussing the situation on Thursday’s episode of Arise Television’s Morning Show.
In addition, he claimed that Julius Abure, the suspended National Chairman, and Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, paid thugs to beat him out of the Presidential Petition Tribunal on Wednesday.
He claimed that the reason he appeared in court on Wednesday, was because “it was my responsibility as the authentic acting National Chairman of the party to exercise my authority as representative of the party”.
Earlier, in an effort to defeat the party’s petition before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Apapa denied obtaining N500 million from any source.
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In order to resolve the party’s leadership conflict, Apapa has also requested that Mr Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate in the election for president scheduled for February 25, intervene in it fairly.
Apapa denied accepting any money or being persuaded to work against the party by anyone or any organisation while speaking with reporters after narrowly avoiding being lynched by angry youths at the PEPC on Wednesday in Abuja.
He asserted that in order to end the leadership dispute, Obi must handle the problem impartially and objectively.
In Obi’s presence, Apapa condemned what transpired at the PEPC, calling it shameful and a test of Obi’s leadership abilities.
The factional leader said that if the presidential candidate had complied with an order from the FCT High Court, the leadership situation would have been resolved.
Julius Abure and three other people had been told to quit posing as party national officers by the FCT High Court.
When describing how the crisis began, Apapa said that he was unanimously chosen to serve as the party’s acting leader as soon as the parties received the court’s order.
According to him, it was improper for Obi to show deference to Abure despite the court’s ruling and in his capacity as a presidential contender seeking redress from the same court of law.
He begged Obi to be impartial and open-minded in order to put a stop to the problem.
The acting women’s leader, Rukkayat Salihu, the national publicity secretary, Olufemi Arabambi, and the deputy national chairman of the party in the north, Mr Mike Auta, were present during the briefing.
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