…says allegations aimed at denting his image, reputation
A frontline governorship aspirant in the 2024 Edo election on the Labour Party platform, Olumide Osiagbovo Akpata, has dissociated himself and his supporters from last Sunday’s protest at the party’s secretariat in Benin City.
Akpata, who addressed a press conference in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Tuesday, urged the leadership and members of his party to count him and his supporters out of the protest.
This comes as some aggrieved members of the Edo Chapter of the Labour Party, mostly youths, had in the evening of Sunday, 4 February, besieged the state party secretariat in protest against the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, over his alleged support for some aspirants ahead of the party’s governorship primary scheduled for 22 February 2024.
The protesters bore placards with various inscriptions while chanting, “Abure must go!” They were, however, prevented from gaining access into the secretariat building by security operatives.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Akpata, who is also the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), stated that he had absolutely no knowledge of the protest, “which allegedly turned violent”, and that he neither sanctioned nor approved it in any way.
“I want to clearly and unequivocally state that I have absolutely no knowledge of this protest, nor have I sanctioned or approved it in any way,” Akpata said.
“The baseless rumours and insinuations that have been mischievously circulated that these protesters are carrying out my bidding are totally false, unfounded, and quite frankly ridiculous.
“I want to categorically state that I, my campaign organisation, supporters, and well-wishers do not engage in, encourage, or sanction any kind of violence or unwholesome conduct,” he said.
Akpata said as a loyal and dedicated member of the Labour Party who has invested significant time, energy, and resources towards building and strengthening the party across Edo State since he joined, it was both laughable and utterly despicable that he would be linked to any kind of violent protest at the party’s secretariat.
He said that those linking him to the protest and any negative occurrence around the party were simply on a smear campaign to dent his image and integrity and thus ruin his political popularity.
He said that the bogus allegations and rumours against him are very likely emanating from certain quarters within and even outside the Labour Party that are opposed to his emerging as the Labour Party’s gubernatorial flagbearer in the upcoming primary elections.
“In their desperation, they have resorted to underhanded tactics and smear campaigns to undermine my widespread credibility, acceptability, and support base within and outside the Party in Edo State and across the country,” Akpata said.
“Amusingly, this is quite similar to an earlier campaign of calumny that sought to link me to acts of violence meted out against a former National Youth Leader of the Party in Benin City. This is yet another ludicrous attempt to unjustly give a dog a bad name to hang it.
“I want to categorically state that I, my campaign organisation, supporters, and well-wishers do not engage in, encourage, or sanction any kind of violence or unwholesome conduct. These puerile allegations are the products of malicious minds that are aimed at unfairly and irreparably tarnishing my hard-earned reputation, image, and rising popularity as a foremost gubernatorial aspirant of choice within the Labour Party in Edo State,” he said.
Akpata said he was confident that the good and discerning people of Edo State and Nigerians at large know what he stands for, his antecedents, and that his track record is one of integrity, maturity, and excellence.
“As such, these attempts to unjustly smear my character by linking me to acts I have no knowledge of or involvement in will certainly fail,” he said.
The Labour Party governorship aspirant said as a lawyer of more than 30 years, he fully understands that peaceful protest is the fundamental right of every Nigerian citizen, guaranteed by the constitution and upheld by the courts of the land, and that law-abiding citizens have a right to freely associate and to protest, provided that this is done peacefully and legally without threatening lives or property.
“However, if any person has acted unlawfully in the course of this alleged protest, I strongly urge that they be promptly reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for proper investigation and possible prosecution as provided by our laws.
“I have confidence in the discerning wisdom of members of the Labour Party, Edo people, and indeed Nigerians to reject all forms of violence, propaganda, and deceit. United in our diversity, we shall build a greater Edo State,” he said.
Akpata had last Friday obtained the Labour Party’s nomination and expression of interest for the Edo 2024 governorship race, describing it as the beginning of his journey to serve Edo State.
“Today, I have picked up my expression of interest form and nomination form here at our LP headquarters in Abuja. So the die is cast. As we say, game on,” he said in a short video clip uploaded on X (formerly Twitter).
“I want to call on our party members in Edo State to actively participate in the primary that will see to the election of the party flagbearer. Of course, I ask them to not just participate to also support and nominate me as the flagbearer of Labour Party in the upcoming Edo governorship election scheduled for 21 September 2024,” he said.
