TheCable

Ifagbemi Awamaridi, a chieftain of the Labour Party, says he still remains the governorship candidate of the party in Lagos state.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, Awamaridi said he did not withdraw from the governorship race contrary to claims by some leaders of the party.

He claimed that he became the authentic candidate of the party after he won the party’s governorship primary in July 2022.

“In July 2022, INEC published the name of the Labour party candidate and the name is Prof. Ifagbemi Awamaridi based on the fact that I won the primary,” he said.

“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that the name has changed and some party leaders decided to organise a substitution primary and claimed that I have withdrawn.”

Awamaridi said he had written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he had not withdrawn from the race, noting that a candidate could only withdraw on a signed letter of oath or form 11B of INEC

He said the matter of his candidacy is before the supreme court.

Meanwhile, Dayo Ekong, chairman of the Lagos LP, said Awamaridi is being used by the opposition to disrupt the party, insisting he is not the authentic candidate of the party.

BACKGROUND

In July 2022, INEC published the name of Ifagbemi Awamaridi as the LP governorship candidate for Lagos in the 2023 elections.

In August 2022, Bashiru Apapa, the LP deputy national chairman, told journalists that Awamaridi had written formally to withdraw from the race.

Apapa claimed that Awamaridi was a “placeholder” for the party’s governorship candidate slot.

He disclosed that the party would organise a substitution primary.

Reacting to Apapa’s comment, Awamaridi insisted that he had not withdrawn from the race and that he had sworn an affidavit of non-withdrawal before the federal high court in Abuja.

On August 10, 2022, the LP organised a substitution primary election in Lagos.

A substitution primary is conducted if the candidate for an elective position withdraws from the race, becomes incapacitated, or dies before the election.

At the substitution primary, which took place in Ikeja, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour was declared the winner after he polled 111 votes.

Moshood Salvador, a former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), came second with 102 votes.

The governorship election in Lagos is being contested by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent, and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rhodes-Vivour, candidate of the LP and Olajide Adediran, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).