LP disowns ex-spokeperson who sued UNN over Peter Obi's credentials

The Labour Party (LP) has disowned its former spokesperson, Abayomi Arabambi, who sued the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), for allegedly refusing to release details of the academic record of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi.

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Mr Obi was the 2023 LP presidential candidate but left the party shortly after the year’s general election, citing an intense leadership crisis in the party.

Ken Asogwa, the LP spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday, that Mr Arabambi was no longer a member of the party because he was among 25 members suspended by its National Executive Council in March for alleged anti-party activities.

Mr Asogwa explained that the suspension was subsequently ratified by the LP’s National Convention on 28 April, after which the affected members ceased to be LP members.

The spokesperson said the clarification became necessary after reports described Mr Arabambi as an LP chieftain who had sued the UNN and others over Mr Obi’s credentials.

“While the Labour Party wishes to refrain from commenting on the substance or otherwise of the litigant’s case before the court, particularly as Mr Peter Obi is not a member of the party, we wish to notify the general public that Abayomi Arabambi is not a member of the Labour Party,” he said.

Mr Asogwa stressed that since the suspension and subsequent expulsion of the affected members, “no organ of the party has sat to revisit or reverse the decision concerning the expelled members.”

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The spokesperson maintained that any representation by Mr Arabambi as a chieftain or as a representative of the LP was unauthorised.

“If Arabambi has presented himself to the public as a chieftain or representative of the Labour Party, the general public is hereby notified that such representation is entirely unauthorised and, prima facie, amounts to impersonation,” he said.

The official stressed that the party’s lawyers were reviewing the matter to determine possible legal action against Mr Arabambi as well as a petition to law enforcement authorities.

The suit

PREMIUM TIMES reported that in Mr Arabambi’s lawsuit, UNN was listed as 2nd defendant while its vice-chancellor was named 1st defendant.

Mr Obi graduated from the university in 1984.

Mr Arabambi claimed he had requested a certified true copy of Mr Obi’s certificate number D000198, in respect of a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy issued in 1984, in line with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, but the institution refused his request.

He is seeking, among others, an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to perform their statutory duty under the FoI Act, 2011, by determining and responding to his request dated 16 July in accordance with the provisions of the Act.