Election Tribunals: Trouble in LP over sack of lawmakers

The Labour Party (LP) has emerged as one of the major losers in the ongoing State and National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.

Tribunals sitting in different states of the country have sacked many of the elected members of the party in Abia, Edo, Enugu, among others, over the discrepancy surrounding their membership of the party and their mode of nomination.

The LP was able to win some House of Representatives and Senatorial seats in some states, thereby becoming one of the major opposition political parties during the 2023 general elections.

Considering that the party came from relative obscurity to gain popularity, the performance of the LP in the general elections was unparalleled.

Many believed that this was a revolutionary movement that appealed to young people at a time when Nigerians were longing for change.

The Labour Party had been a politically active supporter of workers for more than 20 years prior to 2023.

However, it entered mainstream politics in just eight months.

A resounding youth majority known as “Obidients” supported Peter Obi, the party’s flagbearer in the general elections, on the strength of his fame and acceptance.

Despite winning 12 states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory. Abuja, Obi lost the presidential election.

He shocked many after challenging the two previously dominant parties, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to win a total of 6,101,533 votes.

APC’s Bola Tinubu won the contest with 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP came second, securing 6,984,520 votes.

The Labour Party, however, was able to win one governorship seat, with Alex Otti emerging victorious in Abia State.

The Party clinched eight senatorial seats and 34 seats in the House of Representatives.

With this number, the Peter Obi-led political party became the third most popular party in the National Assembly.

APC won 57 Senate seats; PDP, 29; LP, eight; Social Democratic Party (SDP) two; NNPP two; YPP and APGA got one each.

In the House of Representatives, the APC had 162 seats; PDP, 102; LP, 34; NNPP, 18; APGA, four; ADC, two; SDP, two; YPP, one.

The Labour Party was successful in states such as Enugu, Abia, Imo, Delta, Anambra, Plateau and even Benue.

However, as the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunals sitting in several states end their proceedings this week, the LP has been on the receiving end.

About 552 election petitions were filed by aggrieved candidates, and while over 150 of the cases have been decided, some of the cases were withdrawn by the petitioners.

The tribunals, across the country, will end their sittings on Saturday, September 16, 2023.