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BREAKING: Court Restrains Apapa and Cohorts From Parading Themselves As Officers of LP

An Edo State High Court Judge, Justice Emmanuel Okey Aihamoje, has Restrained Apapa and Cohorts From Parading Themselves As Officers of Labour Party, Affirms Abure As Chairman
Justice Aihamoje also dismissed the notice of suspension issued against Comrade Barrister Julius Abure by some purported Ward Executive, while the action was filed by Bar. Abure and some of the executives of the Ward 3 in Esan North East of Edo State.
In his judgement which lasted for nearly two hours, justice Aihamoje said the party ward executive in Uromi in ward 3 lacks the power under the Labour Party Constitutional particularly Art.13 & 17 and the Electoral Act 2022 as amended to remove the national chairman of the party.
The judge in Suit No: HUC/21/2023 went ahead to imposed perpetual injunction against Lamidi Apapa and his cohorts and any other dissident or faction from removing or suspending Barrister Julius Abure as the National chairman until the national convention of the party is convened.
Justice Aihamoje further stated that the purported wards 3 executive who suspended the national chairman of the party acted outside the powers vested on it by the Labour Party Constitution.
The Ward 3 Labour Party Chairman in Arueh Uromi, Comrade Thompson Ehiguese told journalists at the court premises that the judgement has put an end to impostors who are masquerading as members of the labour party in the ward.” These charlatans claiming to be members of our party are from Edo North and members of APC” he said.
He went further and state that “I want to use this medium to congratulate the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement that stood firmly with Comrade Julius Abure while the sponsored crisis in our great party lasted.
“The judgement is explicitly clear that Barrister Julius Abure remains the national Chairman until the party convention holds next year.
“Nothing can change our collective resolve to reclaim Nigerian masses’ mandate freely given to Mr Peter Obi and the party in the last Presidential election.
Bar. Aigbokhan, one of the lead counsel to the Labour Party and Barrister Julius Abure said that “the decision just given is a landmark judgement that will stand the test of time. Any decision taken on the void notice of suspension falls effortlessly”.
He added, “The Court in his decision emphasized that the roles of wards executive in Labour Party does not include the suspension of national officers of the party.”
Edo State Labour Party Chairman, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi said Labour Party is vindicated and the court has spoken through its erudite justice, Hon. Justice Emmanuel Okey Aihamoje and it confirmed what we told Nigerians public from the beginning that Apapa and his cohorts are common tragic power seekers.
“Apapa who before then was a deputy national chairman and a custodian of the constitution of the party knew that the act of those who came to Abuja to announce the suspension of the national chairman was not doing so legally, since the action was an aberration to the provisions of the party’s constitution, instead he ran to the court, seeking ex-parte motion to restrain the national chairman.
“Today they have been told basically that the charade can no longer be entertained by the court”, Comrade Ogbaloi said.
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2027: Hurdles Before The Coalition, By Emeka Monye

The 2027 presidential election in Nigeria is shaping up to be a crucial contest between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a potential coalition of opposition parties. Several hurdles need to be overcome for the opposition coalition to succeed.
The political class is already preparing for this quadrennial event, holding consultations, meetings, negotiations, among other contending factors.
The ruling party, The All Progressive Congress, appears to be the most beautiful bride at the moment as members of other opposition parties have been courting the party, in a gale of defections, in what many political pundits and analysts described as a political tsunami.
While the APC seems to be enjoying the foray of defections by other party members into their fold, the main opposition party, The Peoples Democractic Party, PDP, appears to have lost its steam in the run of play.
The once dominant party is plagued by a series of internal crises which many political analysts believe will be the party’s undoings.
The once largest political party in Africa and oldest in Nigeria since it was created in 1998 by some elder statesmen, is now a shadow of itself, living in past glory and trying to win its way back to national prominence.
Already, some past and present leaders of the party have been consulting, negotiating, discussing, even though they have agreed yet, all in a bit to wrestle power from the stronghold of the Bola Tinubu-Led APC at the centre.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Former Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General elections, Peter Obi, former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, among other bigwigs, are believed to be in talks with one another of how to build a possible coalition to edge the ruling APC in the power game.
Although, no concrete decision has been reached by the major actors, their negotiations and their inability to reach a consensus remain critical factors that might endanger the birth of a viable coalition.
Factors like who will step down for who as the realignment begins, remains a major issue, taking into consideration their individual experiences, exposures, skills, knowledge, capacities and egos.
Except this issue is resolved in the run up to the 2027 presidential polls, it will be a mirage for them to unseat the Tinubu-Led government.
While the running party is busy strategizing ahead of the 2027 presidential polls, the other parties are still grappling with their internal crisis.
Some analysts believe that Atiku’s past experience as Vice President under the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo, might give him an edge, while others think Peter Obi’s popularity in the South could bring a geographical balance to the ticket.
For them to form a strong force against the APC, then, they must find common platform and agree on a candidate, which might be challenging given their different ideologies and interest.
Other factors which some political analysts have highlighted that may pose as a stumbling block agents the coalition is the timing. The time between and 2027 is quite a short time for the coalition to gather and make the desired impact.
This of course, is no brainer. Any merger of alliance must be arranged within a reasonable timeframe to be effective. Also, the coalition will have to convince the Nigerian voting public of its purpose and demonstrate a clear vision for the country’s future, particularly in the area of addressing the economic misfortunes of majority of the people. Another hurdle that would be staring the coalition in the face remains the issue of power rotation.
While the south believe it’s that turn to complete their second term in 2027, the north on the other hand argue that they have been short-changed in the governance structure of the country – in terms of number of years – since the return of democracy in 1999.
Out of the total 26 years, the north has ruled for 11 years, with the south 15 years. The issue remains a key factor that would affect the coalition to birth.
The coalition, must as a matter of urgency, decency decide on this unwritten agreement about rotating power between the North and the South, potentially present a southern for one term to allow the South to complete its own two terms for the office of the president.
In conclusion, the coalition, if it really wants to win power in 2027, must make a compelling case for itself, highlighting its unique strengths and vision, rather than just criticizing the incumbent.
It needs to differentiate itself and show Nigerians that it has a better alternative.
Emeka Monye Is A Journalist And Works With ARISE NEWS.
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Mauritania’s Tah succeeds Adesina as 9th AfDB President
Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina prepares to bow out.
The Bank announced his election on its website on Thursday.
Adesina’s 10-year tenure will end this year and Tah is expected to assume office on September 1, 2025.
Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The Board comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.
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JUST IN: Appeal Court Affirms Okphebholo as Edo Governor

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Monday Okphebholo as duly elected in the September 21, 2024 Edo Governorship polls, as it affirms the decision of the Tribunal which on April 2 dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking merit.
A three-man panel of the Appeal court, presided over by Justice Mohamed Danjuma, restated the position of the Tribunal which held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The panel held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The Appellate Court agrees with the Tribunal that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) Machines which the appellants tendered were merely ‘dumped’ as they weren’t demonstrated to prove overvoting.
This the Court held after it earlier expunged the 133 BVAS machines admitted in evidence at the Tribunal stage of the Governorship tussle.
Ighodalo and the PDP were further faulted by the Appellate Court for failing to tender the voter register to prove overvoting.
The Court further adds that BVAS extract doesn’t constitute items with which to prove overvoting. It says the documents tendered by the PDP at the Tribunal did not, on their own, prove overvoting, non-holding or cancellation of elections at the polling units.
To further puncture the case of the PDP, the panel says the 19 witnesses called by the appellants during the Tribunal hearing didn’t help their case.
It says the majority of them did not witness what they spoke about. Moreso, it adds they were insufficient to prove irregularities in polling stations at over 4,000 locations.
Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, against Asue Ighodalo of the PDP who garnered 247,274 votes.
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