On Monday, a faction of the Labour Party that is led by Lamidi Apapa extended its congratulations to President Bola Tinubu for maintaining June 12 as Democracy Day. This honours the late Chief MKO Abiola, who was known for his dedication to democracy.
This was despite the fact that the faction had praised the Directorate of State Service for pursuing criminal charges against the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, not long after the president had suspended him from his position.
In a statement that was distributed by the faction’s spokesman, Dr. Abayomi Arabambi, the Nigerian people were urged to continue lending their support to the positive goals of the Federal Government while also expressing their disapproval when it was warranted.
He said, “We congratulate Nigerians for witnessing the first democracy day under the current administration of President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. This day marks an important milestone for the country.” We applaud your steadfastness and dedication to ensuring that our democracy is maintained along the same religious, economic, and political lines. In doing so, your Excellency has earned our highest respect. The Labour Party supports the numerous ongoing reforms that are taking place across the nation, including the proclamation of June 12 as a National Holiday and a great number of other reforms.
“Hope 93” was Chief MKO ABIOLA’s slogan, and now we have ‘A renewed Hope 2023’ Even though both candidates ran on Muslim-Muslim ticket platforms, what set them apart from one another was not their religious affiliation but rather their enthusiasm and dedication to building a better Nigeria, something that has nothing to do with their religious beliefs. We appealed to the people to maintain their support for the government’s positive initiatives while at the same time condemning the appropriate actions when they were taken.
In continuation, Arabambi scowled when he heard about the recent criticism levelled at the executives led by Julius Abure for their criticism of the president regarding the suspension of the CBN governor.
As a means of justification for their actions, the LP faction stated that any government official who abuses his office in the same way that Emefiele did by running for the seat of the president and inflicting hardship on Nigeria through his ill-timed policy of redesigning the new Naira should be made to face the full wrath of the law. This was said in the context of justifying their actions.
“Our attention has been brought to a statement that is credited to the Peter Obi-Abure-led faction of the Labour Party Spokesperson, Obiorah Ifoh. In this statement, he irresponsibly claimed that the suspension approved by the president is unconstitutional, vindictive, and not in good taste. Peter Obi’s faction even accused the new Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, of complicity for his silence because he is now working for the government. This accusation was based on deliberate falsehood and ignorance on the part of the faction.
“We were all living witnesses to the tribulations that Nigerians went through as a result of the various anti-masses policies that were rolled out to Nigerians by the embattled CBN Governor, and as a responsible Party, we will not just sit down and condemn a lawful inquiry into the years of the inglorious and corrupt reign of Emefiele, but rather we have called on the relevant security agencies to properly look into the actions and deeds of the former governor. It is public knowledge that Peter Obi and Julius Abure fraudulently appropriated to themselves an illegal labour party campaign fund to the tune of N12 billion and $15 million. This was a fund that Obi and Abure had access to during the disgraceful days of the grossly incompetent stints of the suspended CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele. They did this by purposefully inflicting pain and agony on the majority of Nigerians.
“The Obiorah statements are laced with tribalism, egocentrism, and nepotism, and what this tells us is that all of the rumours that Emefiele was part of those that sponsored the Presidential bid of Peter Obi may be true after all,” Obiorah said. “The Obiorah statements are laced with tribalism, egocentrism, and nepotism.” How can we explain the fact that rational individuals will back a candidate who has a track record of impunity and who has enacted fiscal and monetary policies that have been poorly carried out and which have brought millions of Nigerians to their knees over the course of almost nine years? A sitting Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank was observed engaging in political activity for the first time in the country’s history; however, Obiorah does not see any reason why the Governor should be investigated and brought to justice if he is found guilty.
“Also during his tenure, we were made aware of how the DSS accused Emefiele of financing terrorist activities. He was accused of funding the activities of the outlawed pro-Biafra group known as IPOB as well as other organisations. As a political party, we will not condone any acts of witch hunting, nor will we back any effort to thwart Emefiele’s efforts to get to the bottom of Nigeria’s economic crisis. “We, therefore, called on DSS and other security agencies to distinctly carry out their investigation workout any hindrance and inform the public of their findings as Nigerians are waiting patiently to know why they were so impoverished under the policy reeled out by Emefiele,” he stated. We called on DSS and other security agencies to distinctly carry out their investigation workout any hindrance and inform the public of their findings.
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When asked for a response, Obiora Ifoh, who is in charge of the LP’s national publicity, declined to comment very much on the issue.
“We would prefer not to respond to anything that may occur today. When we talk about them, we are immediately giving them unwarranted publicity. On the basis of what they have been saying for so long now, virtually everyone is aware that they are impostors. We are not interested in responding to these nefarious actors but rather want to focus on discussing issues of national importance.
Ifoh explained that in this particular scenario, it is analogous to providing the individual with oxygen.
