Leadership of the Labour Party(LP) in Edo State has denied the existence of a group known as Shine Your Eyes Group(SYEG) within its ranks and file and thus also disclaimed the recent statement made by the group calling on the party’s gubernatorial flagbearer, Olumide Akpata to step down for Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon on the basis of fairplay and justice.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary and Image maker, Comrade Sam Uroupa, the LP said inter alia that it “considered disregarding the claims of ‘this unknown and faceless group’ purporting to exist within the LP.
“However, for the sake of the innocent reading public, we are compelled to make these responses to prevent being misled, bamboozled, and deceived by their fabricated falsehoods.”
While setting the records straight Uroupa stated: “there is no pressure group known as Shine Your Eyes Group (SYEG) within the Edo State LP or in the party’s constitution. The public should be aware that the pseudonyms (Comrade Jonah Ifada and Osagie Omoregie as chairman and secretary, respectively) are not members of the Edo LP, and as such, they are not in our records in the state.
“Their LGAs and wards where they claim to be working as party members are not known to us. It is clear that they are sponsored by the opposition party, the APC, on whose behalf they are speaking. It is unfortunate that the self-proclaimed SYEG did not acknowledge the hardships brought upon Nigerians by the Tinubu-led APC government, which calls for Nigerians to “shine their eyes” rather than calling for scrutiny on a free and fair LP primary that was devoid of any rancor and crisis, resulting in the selection of the distinguished legal luminary Barrister Olumide Osaigbove Akpata as its flag bearer.
According to the LP, “it is laughable for SYEG to call for a validly nominated candidate in a free and fair primary, who scored 316 out of 340 votes, to step down for a candidate who scored 7 votes. The governorship primary election of the Labour Party was conducted transparently, with the presence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, security agencies, and other independent electoral observers, with live coverage on Channels TV.
“The involvement of INEC officials, observers, and the public airing of the process demonstrate the credibility and fairness of the election. The alleged claim by SYEG that the primary was skewed is false and baseless.”
Going further, the statement averred that “the transparency of the primary election, the absence of zoning considerations within the LP, and the party’s commitment to merit-based selections indicate that zoning is not a constitutional requirement within the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State.
“The LP has not previously held the governorship position in the state, indicating that the party does not owe any specific ethnicity or senatorial district the governorship position based on zoning principles. Therefore, the argument of zoning should not apply within the LP context.
“The accusation made by the anonymous group against the Edo State LP, stating that they have ‘murdered sleep,’ is particularly ironic given that the APC-led government has caused significant hardship for Nigerians, depriving them of rest due to their mismanagement of the country.
“Therefore, we call upon the esteemed members of the public, especially the resilient citizens of Edo State, to dismiss the unfounded allegations of this anonymous group.”
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