If not for the intervention of police officials, angry supporters of Peter Obi sympathetic to the Julius Abure faction of the Labour Party, would have lynched the Acting National Chairman, Mr Lamidi Apapa.
Apapa was attending the court’s proceedings for the very first time on Wednesday, although the court had declined to recognize his representation of the Labour Party owing to disagreement on who should represent LP between Apapa and the National Women Leader, Mrs Dudu Manuga, who had earlier announced appearance alongside Peter Obi.
However, shortly after the adjournment to Friday, Apapa had wanted to speak with journalists covering the proceedings outside the courtroom but was prevented by the aggrieved supporters who stood in front of television cameras, shoving Apapa and calling him all kinds of names.
At a point, the angry supporters started pushing him out of the court premises towards the gate before some police officers came to his rescue and took him back into the court.
Apapa had assumed leadership of the LP following a court order suspending the National Chairman, Julius Abure from parading himself as National Chairman, although, Abure had since appealed the suspension order.
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned pre-hearing in the petition of Obi against the election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to Friday.
The adjournment was to enable parties finalize their harmonization of documents to be used during trial.
At the proceedings, Obi’s lawyer, Dr Levi Uzoukwu informed the court that the parties could not meet as directed by the court due to the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to release necessary documents, particularly from Sokoto and Rivers States, which are germain to the perusal and consideration of all parties.
Responding, INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, stated that the parties could not agree on documents to be used in evidence during trial because LP’s legal team had walked out on the rest of them.
Mahmoud, in addition explained that the petitioners were unable to get documents from Sokoto because the were unwilling to pay the sum of N1.5 million for certification, adding that the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers had already given access to some documents being requested for by the LP.
This statement was corroborated by Tinubu and Shettima’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and that of the All Progressives Congress lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
Levi however told the court that the statement of the respondents was not true, adding that such statements amounts to blackmail.
Uzoakwu also denied that the party was refusing to pay for certification, stressing that they are ready to pay any amount.
