The Saturday, March 30th 2024, Fitness Walk scheduled by the Obidient Movement in Edo State has suffered a severe setback as notable Labour Party faithful and Members of the Obidient Movement have dissociated themselves from the event.
According to them, the party primaries in which the Edo LP governor candidate, Olumide Akpata, emerged were characterised by fraud, corruption, and bribery of party delegates.
They said the walk was an attempt to exploit the ideals and image of the Obedient Movement to legitimise fraud.
In a statement issued by a Labour Party Governorship Aspirant and prominent member of the Obidient Movement, Hon. Chief Ezehi MD Igbas and made available to reporters, the Chieftain who is a former Labour Party Candidate for the House of Representative, to represent Esan North East, Esan South East Federal Constituency, described the planned fitness walk as a farce.
Igbas, a former Minority Whip, Edo State House of Assembly, stated that the process through which Olumide Akpata emerged as the candidate was the exact opposite of what the Obidient Movement stood for.
“Setting the record straight is also very crucial, to state that the Labour Party Governorship candidate was chosen through primaries marked by dishonesty, fraud, and largely fabricated delegates—exactly the opposite of what Obidient stands for,” he stated.
He insisted that as major stakeholders in the Obidient project, neither he nor his supporters will participate in this farce, which aims to deceive the public into believing that the LP governorship candidate is an Obidient project.
Similarly, a group known as “Edo Obidients” has also distanced itself from the scheduled walk.
In a press conference held at the NUJ Secretariat in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Saturday, the group’s spokesperson, Ikhuenbor Figo, insisted that the Labour Party has failed to impress as the alternative to the two main political parties in Nigeria.
“We completely disassociate ourselves from the Labour Party and its candidate for the Edo 2024 governorship campaign, their street rallies, and fitness walk,” Figo declared.
The group also passed a vote of no confidence in the Edo LP primary election process, alleging that the leaders at the national and state working committees, the local government area, and ward executives were guilty of what it described as disgraceful and unpatriotic activities before during,g and after the primaries.
