LP crisis has no impact on Obi’s Petition at the Tribunal — POSN*

The Peter Obi Support Network (POSN) has allayed the fears of the teeming supporters of Labour Party (LP) Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, assuring them that the internal wrangling in the party has no impact whatsoever on his struggle to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by Nigerians on February 25 but brazenly stolen by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group in a statement issued on Thursday stressed that the letter allegedly written by the Lamidi Apapa faction of LP for the withdrawal of Obi’s petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is just a comedy skit that should not be taken serious.

POSN explained that the position of the law on the withdrawal of petition from Tribunal is very clear as Rule 29 (2) says, ‘Of the Where the petitioners are more than one, no application for leave to withdraw the election petition shall be made except with the CONSENT OF ALL THE PETITIONERS.”

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to the game plan of the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party to scuttle Peter Obi’s petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal by seeking withdrawal of the Petition.

“Actually, we would have allowed Lamidi Apapa and his co-travellers to continue to swim in their ocean of ignorance, but for the sake of millions of supporters who are worried about unfolding developments. It is therefore pertinent to put the records straight in order to put to shame, the political hirelings who have decided to sink the party because of few naira.

“What the Apapa faction of Labour Party should realise is that Peter Obi is a movement which can’t be sunk by political hirelings.

“To put the records straight, the withdrawal of Labour Party from the Presidential Election Petition will not in any way affect the case instituted at the Tribunal by Peter Obi.

“Lamidi Apapa and his co-actors don’t even know the position of the Electoral Act, 2022 on petition withdrawal.

“Rule 29 of the Rules of Procedure for Election Petitions says, ‘29—(1) An election petition shall not be withdrawn without leave of the tribunal or court.

“ ‘Where the petitioners are more than one, no application for leave to withdraw the election petition shall be made except with the CONSENT OF ALL THE PETITIONERS’.

“Obi’s teeming supporters, therefore, have nothing to worry about as no one can withdraw his water-tight petition from the Tribunal.”