There was a mild drama on Wednesday, during the resumed hearing of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, as the two factions of the Labour Party extended their struggle for the soul of the party to the Courtroom.
This happened as lawyers and other persons were granted access to the courtroom.
The disagreement, started between the two camps of the Labour Party (LP) as to which group should be in court.
The justices arrived to commence the day’s proceedings and also refused to acknowledge the representation of the party aside the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi, who was present in court.
The Tribunal refused to take an appearance for the LP as acting National Chairman of the party, Lamidi Apapa, as well as the National Women’s Leader of the party, Dudu Manugu, tried to make an appearance for Labour Party when the petition was called.
During the court session, Justice Haruna Tsamani clarified that if two individuals are present to represent the same party, only one of them will be recorded.
At the meeting, Apapa tried to take the reserved seat for the Abure, but was met with opposition.
During the following proceeding, the Labor Party’s lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, informed the court that the gathering meant to finalize the documents necessary for the hearing was not successful, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) only provided 30% of the documents requested.
He mentioned that this was in contradiction to the INEC Chair, Mahmoud Yakubu’s, guarantee that all required documents would be given.
