On May 29, the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party issued a statement through their spokesman, Abayomi Arabambi, distancing themselves from the calls for an interim government and the agitations that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, should not be sworn in on May 29, pending the determination of the petitions before the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
Arabambi noted that the swearing-in of Tinubu “may not have any impact on the ongoing legal tussle on the presidential election involving our party, APC and INEC.”
He also stated that the Electoral Act and the Constitution of Nigeria did not provide for a vacuum, “so whether the President-elect is sworn in or not, there is right to remove him legally if it is found out that he was not duly elected.”
He cited sections 136 and 146 of the Nigerian Constitution, which stated that only death or permanent incapacity can stop a president-elect from being sworn in.
Arabambi recalled how the Court removed Chris Ngige and confirmed Peter Obi as the Governor of Anambra State in 2003, and noted that “what Peter Obi is crying for is not supported by the law.”
He warned all those agitating for the President-elect not to be sworn in to have a rethink as the Labour Party would not support any unlawful means of agitations or change of government violently.
Arabambi stressed that the law does not provide for an interim president in this circumstance, and “even Peter Obi once benefited from the system of being sworn into office despite pending petitions filed against him before the tribunal by Andy Uba.”
He said that “the law has to be complied with, which is to swear in Tinubu as president, and if anybody wants to change the narrative, they will have to change the law.”
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