In a bid to avert any possible impact of the lingering crisis in the Labour Party (LP) in his petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the presidential candidate of the party, Mr. Peter Obi has reached out to some of the principal actors to sheathe their swords.

This is coming as the acting National Chairman of the party, Mr. Lamidi Bashir Apapa, has debunked speculations that he was being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hijack the party’s leadership and withdraw its petition before the presidential election petition tribunal.

He declared that as a founding member of the party, there was no way he could betray the party or its presidential candidate, Obi.

However, the 36 state chairmen have insisted that the embattled National Chairman, Julius Abure, who was sacked by the court remains the substantive National Chairman of the party.

But Apapa has insisted that only the court can reinstate Abure.

Following the fears that the crisis could affect the party’s election petition, it was gathered that Obi will for the first time intervene to resolve the differences between the warring factions to prevent external elements from infiltrating the party.

Obi’s aloofness from issues concerning the running of the Labour Party is believed to be responsible for the lingering crisis which started in July 2022.

“Obi didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire, especially when his eyes were fixed on winning the presidential election. He didn’t want to get involved in an internal party crisis”, a member of the party’s NEC.

He said with the current circumstances, Obi “is already in talks with both factions of the party to address the situation and allow for a smooth running of the party’s affairs. This period is critical, he will not allow things to get out of hand.”

According to him, Obi has reached out to the warring factions and prevailed on them not to escalate the crisis. (Text, excluding headline: THISDAY)