A Labour Party governorship aspirant in Edo State, Olumide Akpata, has debunked the allegation that he sponsored the attack on some leaders of the party belonging to the Lamidi Apapa group.
The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association described the allegation as a deliberate attempt to malign his personality.
He made this defence in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
Recall that, a video of some members of the Apapa group being attacked in Edo State had gone viral on social media.
But the Labour Party governorship aspirant denied any link with the incident.
Meanwhile, the LP in Edo State has denied rumours that it asked Akpata to drop off the race, maintaining that the purported source of the claim is not a member of the party.
The spokesman of the party in Edo State Sam Uruopa made this clarification in an interview with Channels Television in Benin City.
Akpata said, “I’m shocked at how people are able to make things up and just carry on as if that fiction is actually a reality.
“I’m but one of probably 30 aspirants seeking the Labour Party ticket in Edo state. The dispute in the LP predates my entry into that party, so I fail to understand why I’m being singled out by Mr. Arabambi and his co travellers. There’s really something wrong here and I think we must get to the bottom of it.
“I think he is maligning me, he has even asked that the NBA look into my conduct and I’m actually quite shocked that he would have the gut to mention that on national television. What conduct are talking about? I’m one of 30 aspirants. I’m actually not in Benin as we speak, I’m on break like everybody else.
“The first thing we saw yesterday was the report that LP has asked Akpata not to present himself as an aspirant in LP because he is a mole of Governor Obaseki. My friends and supporters were shocked by this and I was worried myself when I saw the headline. I reached out to the LP in Edo state and they said nothing of sort.
“When I opened he article I realized it was Mr Arabambi and his colleagues who issued that statement. They actually issued a 20 paragraph document that purported to detail what their plans were for elections in Edo state, and in paragraph 19 they singled me out of all the aspirants to say don’t present yourself in edo state because you’re a mole of governor Obaseki.
“Mr Arabambi there in the studio with you actually signed that document and it is in the public domain and I’m sitting here in my own and wondering what’s giong on? And then he comes on national television to insinuate that whatever melly happened in Benin and the fight between two… everybody knows these two groups have been in locked in some kind of tussle even before i decided to join the party…”