Politics
LP elected office holders won’t derail Peter Obi’s productivity mantra, says S-East Vice Chairman, Okeke
• Explains how party will take over region
The South East National Vice Chairman of Labour Party, Chief Innocent Okeke has assured Nigerians that all office holders elected on the platform of Labour Party,LP will religiously adhere to the campaign mantra of the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi who said at different fora that Nigeria under his watch will be transformed from a consumption to a production-oriented economy.
Chief Okeke, who stated this during in an interview, insisted that Peter Obi has changed the narrative of governance in the country, hence Labour Party and those elected into different positions on its platform will always ensure that the standard that Peter Obi set as Governor of Anambra State and the awareness he created are not only replicated but improved upon in the next dispensation when Labour Party will hopefully take over the mantle of leadership in the country.
According to Okeke, ‘’Labour Party did not just give out tickets for elective positions to aspirants but carefully screened and selected those who will adhere and sustain the party’s populist disposition which is in line with the programs, policies and inclinations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
Commenting on the outcome of the 2023 general election Okeke, said, ‘’even the blind knows that Peter Obi won the presidential election but was rigged out. However, it is just a matter of time for him to reclaim his mandate’’.
He expressed confidence in the ability of the judiciary to do justice to the matter and give credence to its position as the last hope of the common man’’.
‘’It is very obvious that Labour Party will in no distant time sweep the entire South East geopolitical zone where the party showed in unmistakable terms that it is in control and has the support of the people.
‘’Having won in Abia State and other places in South East, the party is ready to send the failed APC government in Imo packing by November 11, 2023.
“In Enugu, we all witnessed how our candidate, Barr. Chijioke Edoga won the governorship election with wild margin but was rigged out by undemocratic elements using state powers.We are optimistic that the Judiciary will do justice and our mandate reclaimed.
” Anambra won’t be different.It is already a home for Labour party going by the overwhelming electoral victory we recorded during the last election. Already,we have 2 Senatorial seats, 6 House of representatives and several state assembly seats.
“In Abia, the governor elect Dr. Alex Otti has already swung into action. As a man of quality who places premium on standard , he has contacted Julius Begger to inspect the Port harcourt- Aba federal Road which has over time, subjected the people to untold hardship.
“It is very glaring that Imo people will stop at nothing in their resolve to sack the APC administration that has subjected them to unprecedented hardship, lack, deprivation, emotional and psychological trauma. They are clamouring for the emergence of a Labour Party leadership that will enthrone good governance and fast track socio-economic development.
“From all indications, the APC and the PDP have completely been rejected in the South East, as reflected in the result of the February, 25 presidential and National Assembly elections’’.
Former Governor of Delta State and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential running mate in the 2023 election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okowa confirmed the news of his defection to ARISE NEWS on Wednesday following the announcement of the current governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, who also defected from the PDP to the APC on Wednesday.
The development was disclosed by Senator James Manager after a six-hour meeting at Government House, Asaba.
“All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC,” Manager stated. “We cannot continue to be in a sinking boat.”
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Aniagwu Charles, officially confirmed the sweeping political shift, attributing the decision to the need for renewed direction and enhanced governance in the state.
“There is a need for us to adjust our drinking patterns. And in adjusting that drinking pattern, we needed to make a decision that would further help to cement the development in our state,” he said.
Aniagwu added that the move aimed to sustain progress in law, security, and welfare, likening the PDP to a “palm wine whose taste has changed,” necessitating a change in “drinking party”.
He further indicated that the defection was unanimously agreed upon by key PDP leaders and stakeholders in the state, with a formal public declaration expected on Monday.
“By the grace of God, on Monday next week, we will be able to make a very big statement confirming that we are moving into the APC,” he said.
The mass defection represents a dramatic realignment in Delta State’s political landscape and could significantly alter party dynamics in the broader South-South region, historically a PDP stronghold.
Okowa will be received on Monday by Vice President Kashim Shettima alongside Governor Oborevwori.
However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), has dismissed moves by some political actors to form a coalition with the aim of defeating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election, describing them as content creators.
Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, left the PDP in June 2022, citing inability to make “constructive contributions.”
In an interview with the ‘Mic On podcast’ hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, the PDP chief said, “Obi needs a bigger platform” going forward.
“Looking ahead to 2027, the PDP of Nigeria will open its processes, announce when the forms are available, and anyone who feels confident enough to contest should step forward and do so.
“If I were Peter Obi, I would return to the PDP and make a strong case for the presidential ticket. I believe he should come back to the party. This party was originally conceived in the bedroom of (the late) Alex Ekwueme; so, I don’t understand why the Igbo, along with southern leaders and other influential figures within the PDP, can’t come together and say, ‘Alright, we recognise this – here’s the ticket.”
He noted that if Obi could secure over six million votes on his own, without governors or major support, just imagine what he could achieve with 12 governors and a solid grassroots infrastructure.
“We’ve covered every region, but we have not gone to the South East yet. Still, Obi is free to make his own decisions. If his numbers and the animated energy that is following him were to follow him into the PDP and he is the presidential candidate, I can guarantee you he would take the South East, South South, the Christian North and North Central,” he added.
The PDP stalwart clarified that he was only speaking hypothetically in response to a question about possible political alignments ahead of 2027.
RECENTLY, some political heavyweights in the opposition, including former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, broached talks for a coalition that would oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, capital, yesterday, where the APC caucus in the state met to endorse the President for a second term, Adaramodu explained that Tinubu, in less than two years, initiated programmes and policies impacting positively on the citizens.
He lauded the President for his decisive economic reforms that revitalised the country’s economy as well as his comprehensive security strategies that, according to him, addressed insecurity in the country.
The Senate spokesman said APC was not disturbed about the movement of the opposition figures, describing it as a political entertainment that would not affect the expected victory of Tinubu.
He appealed to Nigerians not to take the promoters of the coalition for 2027 seriously, but remain committed and continue their support for Tinubu in his quest to deliver his Renewed Hope Agenda for the country.
Ben Nwoye, the former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu, has resigned his membership of the party.
Nwoye announced his departure from the party during a press conference in Enugu on Thursday, citing a resignation letter addressed to the Amurri Ward chairman.
Nwoye, who served as the chairman of the APC in the state between 2014 and 2021, said the party in the south-east is plagued by “vindictive politics”.
He also cited an “irreconcilable internal crisis” in Enugu and across the south-east as his reason for quitting the ruling party.
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“With a deep sense of responsibility, I write to inform you that I hereby resign as a member of APC,” he said.
Nwoye said the Enugu chapter of the party had disintegrated beyond repair, adding that there are only two skeletal factions of the APC left in the state, each controlled by opposing leaders.
“The bunch of the broom, which we painstakingly tied together in 2013 at a time when we were called unprintable names, has loosened and permanently scattered,” he said.
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“All efforts made by the party elders to gather the broom and reassemble it have failed.
“In its current form, further attempts to reassemble the broom in Enugu state is no longer practicable.
“One of the strong men claims chairmanship by judicial pronouncement; the other claims chairmanship through arrogant disobedience of the same judicial pronouncement, aided by the silent approval of the national leadership.
“To them, the supremacy of the party is measured by how low they could go to oppress their perceived political enemies.
“These they do, without recourse to the core principles upon which APC stands—justice, peace, and unity.
“To say the least, the zonal leadership in the south-east has lost direction.”
The ex-chairman alleged that the APC national leadership has “ignored the Enugu crisis, disregarding reconciliation calls and alienating loyal members, exacerbating party conflicts”.
He added that the party’s regional leadership is not interested in expanding beyond the two states it currently controls.
“In the meantime, the national leadership of the party is basking in the euphoria of power, being the party under which the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the majority of the members of the national assembly were elected,” he said.
“The APC national leadership has therefore maintained willful blindness; hence, allowing the warring factions to self-destruct and strangulate the party in Enugu state.
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“Loyal party members calling for party unity are treated like conquered and captured political warriors.
“On the basis stated above, I engaged in extensive consultations with my grassroots followers, and I have come to the conclusion that it is time to move on.
“I am not a political prisoner. I have never been, and I can never be.”
Nwoye added that the problems in Enugu are also evident in other south-east states.
He cited the case of Anambra, where, according to him, the party leadership ignored the input of a senior figure before picking its governorship candidate.
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