16th March, 2023
Mr Ifagbemi Awamaridi, a member of Labour Party has insisted that he is the governorship candidate of the party for Lagos State.
Awamaridi spoke in Lagos barely 48 hours to the governorship election in which Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour, the recognized candidate of the Labour Party is considered a frontrunner.
He spoke at a press conference he said was being held to round off his governorship campaign.
Awamaridi said he remains the candidate of the party for Lagos in the March 18 Gubernatorial Election as the matter of his candidacy is before the Supreme Court.
Awamaridi, who was also the National Coordinator, Labour Party Concerned Stakeholders, said that he never withdrew from the governorship race as claimed by some National leaders of the party.
He said that he was the party’s bonafide flagbearer in Lagos state, having emerged winner in the state primary election in July 2022.
He said that his name was forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the party leadership.
“In July 2022, INEC published the name of Labour party candidate and the name is Prof. Ifagbemi Awamaridi based on the fact that I won the primaries.
“The party forwarded the name to INEC around July 5 and INEC published the name around July 25 and that name subsists.
“Later on, I discovered that the name has changed and some party leaders decided to organise a substitution primary and claimed that I have withdrawn,” he alleged.
Awamaridi said he had replied INEC that he had not withdrawn from the race, adding that a candidate could only withdraw on a signed Letter of Oath or Form 11B of INEC.
He said that the party was trying to change a lot of things in the country and INEC irregularities would not be excluded.
He alleged that the the party had issues of forged documents in 22 states, including Edo and Ebonyi , in connivance with some INEC officials.
He, therefore, urged the Nigeria Police to look into the issue of forged documents by some national officers and charge them to court.
However, the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of Labour Party, Mrs Dayo Ekong, has refuted claims that Awamaridi was the party’s candidate for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
Ekong told newsmen that Awamaridi was being used by the opposition party to cause confusion in Labour party.
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