Mr Olumide Akpata who is the Former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has emerged the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Edo State on Friday, ahead of the September 21 Edo State governorship election.
The chairman of the party’s Governorship Primary Election Committee and the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Ikechukwu Emetu, declared him winner of the election, held at Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre in Benin.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Akpata scored 316 votes to defeat other aspirants, Kenneth Imansuangbon, who polled seven votes; Prof. Sunday Eromosele that had seven votes, and Sergious Ogun that scored four votes.
Emetu declared: “Mr. Olumide Akpata, having scored the highest votes and satisfied the constitution of the party, is hereby declared winner and returned as the candidate.”
He thanked the other aspirants for showing the spirit of sportsmanship and urged Akpata to carry them along.
Read Also: Labour: We May Demand ₦1m As New Minimum Wage If.. – Ajaero
In his acceptance speech, Akpata, thanked members of the Governorship Primary Election Committee. He also paid tribute to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, who had served as President of NBA before him. He described the late governor as his mentor and friend.
In a related development, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi, has declared that he has not left the party.
There were reports of Obi parting ways with the Labour Party, but he said his ties with the party are still intact, adding that such insinuations were from mischief makers.
The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) through the chief spokesman of the defunct Obi-Datti campaign council, Dr Yunusa Tanko, said they were out to outrightly dismiss trending fake and fallacious news stories suggesting that Obi was leaving the party.