Labour Party Expels Plateau Governorship Candidate – Conducts Fresh Election

The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Plateau State, Yohanna Margif has been expelled from the party.

Gatekeepers News reports that party’s National chairman, Julius Abure who announced the development, said the expulsion came after several petitions that were examined and sent to the party’s national headquarters immediately after Margif won the party’s initial primary.

“This party, as a responsible political platform, has called him severally but he declined to show up. The national working committee of the party has, therefore, expelled him,” Abure said.

He noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been notified of the development.

A fresh primary had produced Patrick Dakum as the flagbearer of the party in the state.

“The substitutionary primaries had since been conducted and Patrick Dakum was chosen as the governorship candidate of the party in Plateau,” he added.

In his reaction on Monday in Jos, the Plateau capital, Margif faulted the party’s decision to conduct fresh primary, adding that he had not withdrawn from the race.

“To put the records straight, some individuals had approached me requesting that I relinquish the hard-earned ticket to them,” he said.

“But I felt it will be unwise to toy with the party’s mandate and the people’s trust, hence my refusal to grant their wishes.

“Surprisingly, my attention was drawn to a primary election by some political elements. The elements disguised themselves as members of Labour Party in Plateau and produced Dakum as my replacement.”

The development comes days after the Plateau police command said it was investigating Margif over the allegation of “issuing a dud bank cheque to his business associate”.