The leadership of the Oyo State chapter of the Labour Party, on Sunday, adopted the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Seyi Makinde, ahead of the governorship election.
This was announced at a press conference held at the party’s Secretariat, Ibadan and is coming five days to the governorship election, scheduled to hold on March 11 in the state.
Speaking during press conference, the state chairman of the Labour Party, Honourable Sodiq Atayese, said the action was based on the similarity in ideology of both parties.
He said PDP-led administration in the state resonates with that of Labour Party, hence, the need to support Makinde’s re-election, instead of Taofiq Akinwale, who is the party’s candidate.
The event was attended by all the State Working Committee of the party, National Assembly and state Assembly candidates and members of the party.
The Oyo Labour Party chairman stated that the essence of the press conference was to inform the public of the development in the polity and, of course, the state.
“The last presidential election was keenly contested by three main parties: Labour Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The results of the election, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that APC scored 8,794,726; PDP polled 6,984,520, while Labour party polled 6,101,533 throughout the entire country.
“The result of the presidential election in Oyo State follows similar trend. However, the results of the election in its entirety is still a subject of contention and all necessary legal means shall be deployed to establish the credibility of the election.
“The take home from the just-concluded election is that a third force in Labour Party that emerged barely one year ago was able to give the dominant parties a run for their money.
“That is the power of having a candidate that is competent, that has capacity and has character.
“The governorship election is coming up on march 11, 2023 and our dear state, Oyo, is a theatre of interest.
“Among all considerations for a candidate of choice, the concern of the citizens is to elect a candidate that has the qualities stated above – character, competence and capacity. Above all, the candidate should be concern about the well-being of the citizens.
“Going by the result of the last presidential elections, and the political realities of our state, it is obvious that no party candidate can win the coming governorship election alone.
“However, winning the election by a candidate should not be the topmost consideration. The main priority should be to ensure that the people win through the election of candidate that best serve their collective interest.
“Against this backdrop, the right thing to do is for parties to come together and forge alliance with party(ies) of like ideology.
“In that light, our party has decided to work harmoniously with the party candidate whose ideology tallies with ours in terms of security of life and properties; infrastuctural development;
“Agriculture and food security; education and human capital development; job creation through agriculture and industry; financial independence of the state; and economic well-being of the people, among others.
“The present administration of the PDP-led government, under the watch of Engineer Oluseyi Makinde, has presented its scorecard to the populace.
“From the health sector with the provision of primary health centre in many wards in the state, to security of the state through effective policing and lit up the city projects.
“From educational development through construction and renovation of school buildings to safe travel and less traffic through construction of roads with traffic control lights.
“The Civil Service is not left behind with constant training of her manpower and uncommon access to welfare package like car loans, etc.
“There is no doubt that Makinde’s unique style of handling the COVID-19 pandemic in the state will continue to be a subject of reference for years to come.
“And he is a trail blazer in the establishment of Park Manager System in Nigeria. Other states have since copied his innovation.
“From our evaluation, he has done very well, compared to the past. And it is only logical that the good work that he has started should continue.
“We are not unaware of his battle within his party, PDP, which was essentially because of his stand on fairness, equity, and justice.
“In one of his recent remarks, His Excellency, Engineer Oluseyi Makinde said that between standing for fairness, equity and justice and his political career, he is ready to sacrifice his political career.
“For a governor seeking re-election, this is an unusual display of candour, even at the risk of his own personal political interest.
“I want to assure His Excellency that the electorate would not allow your political interest to be so sacrificed because of your stand with justice and fairness.
“On our thorough assessment of the various governorship candidates for the March 11, 2023 election in terms of character, competence, capacity, and compassion for people, His Excellency Engineer Oluseyi Makinde excel the others.
“Therefore, we at Labour Party Oyo, State have decided to use the entire structure of our party throughout the 33 local government areas to support his re-election for another four years of giant development in Oyo state.
“And we call on all citizens of Oyo State to vote massively for him. He deserves it,” the Oyo Labour Party chairman stated at the press conference.
