The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Lamidi Apapa, who was mobbed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the venue of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, on Wednesday, has thanked God for saving his life.
Apapa, while addressing newsmen shortly after he was released from protective custody by security operatives, said he was in court to assert himself as the Acting National Chairman of the party and to confirm the state of things on the petition the candidate of the party, Mr. Peter Obi, filed to challenge the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
He told newsmen that he had before the court began its proceedings, sensed trouble, after the Director-General of Obi campaign organizations, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, refused to vacate a chair that was reserved for chairman of the party.
“I went to him and inquired to know on what capacity he was sitting on the seat. I told him that since I am in court today, I am the right person to sit on that chair.”
On how he was mobbed, Apapa, said: “They pounced on me, removed my cap and I am very sure that if not that you people (journalists) were there, I would have been dead by now.”
He accused Obi of being away that he would be attacked, disclosing that members of the presidential campaign group of the party had at a meeting that was held on Tuesday to broker peace among the warring factions, vowed to deal with him should he attend the court session.
“They threatened that if I appear in court that something would happen”, the embattled LP factional chairman added, saying there was no truth in the allegation that he collected N500million to scuttle Obi’s petition against the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
While branding Obi “a liar” for saying that he does not know him, Apapa said he actively participated in all the campaigns the party held before the presidential election and also flew back to Abuja with him in the same aircraft on one of the occasions.