Two Arrested in Edo for Trying to Organize an Unauthorized Labour Party Election

In Edo State, two people suspected of being part of the Labour Party’s Lamidi Apapa faction got into trouble on Friday. Supporters of the party apprehended them, believing they were planning an unauthorized primary election for Labour Party candidates in preparation for the 2024 governorship election.

A video from Benin showed party supporters confronting and physically confronting the two suspects for their alleged disruptive plans.

Confirming the incident, Samson Uroupa, the party’s state Publicity Secretary, expressed surprise at the suspects’ attempt to cause trouble within the party. He called on state security agencies to quickly intervene against anyone claiming to represent a faction within the LP, emphasizing that the Supreme Court has conclusively addressed the factional dispute.

“We are surprised that people can still be causing trouble like that. But there is no faction in the Labour Party led by Abure as the national chairman,” remarked Uroupa.

He continued, “Anybody going under any guise to purportedly conduct primary elections or whatever should be arrested by the security agencies. That is our stand because Labour Party is one. The people are impostors and are not members of the Labour Party. They are just out there to cause trouble. Maybe opposition parties are the ones sponsoring them.”

Labour Party’s state Chairman, Kelly Ogbaloi, urged the public to dismiss any notices claiming a “Time-Table and Schedule of activities for the Labour Party Re-Run, Bye-Elections with Edo and Ondo Gubernatorial Primaries 2024.” He clarified that such notifications did not originate from the national secretariat of the Labour Party, emphasizing that guidelines for the nomination of the party’s candidate for the Edo State 2024 governorship election have not been released.