•How It Plans To Win The Guber Race
+How It Will Affect LAGOS PDP’s Chances
As the campaign for the governorship of Lagos hots up, the Labour Party in the state has also revved up its plans and strategies to win in the forthcoming guber elections. It has also strengthened its chances to make a great showing at the polls.
Comrade Olukayode Ezekiel Salako, the Chairman of Labour Party in Lagos State, recently revealed to City People, how fully ready the party is for the elections. “As you know, the Labour Party is about the most popularly accepted political party in Nigeria right now”, he explained.
“That is the platform Nigerians have decided to vote for in February next year, that’s if they want to vote; to let the next President of Nigeria and the next governor of Lagos State come from our party. Nigerians have tried APC and PDP, and according to them, those two political platforms have failed. Now, they want to try a fresh platform and as God would have it, it is my party, the Labour Party that Nigerians chose , that is the party they said they are going to try their luck within next year. My party is bringing new ideals, fresh ideas, and a better agenda to run Nigeria, better than and more beautiful than APC and PDP who have destroyed the country in twenty-three years (23yrs). My party is not coming to destroy Nigeria further, but to rebuild the country and to give Nigerians a new lease of life, to run Nigeria satisfactorily, to run it the way Nigerians have yearned for over the years, so, my party is coming to do well and better for Nigeria”.
Princess Abiodun Islaimat Oyefusi is the Deputy Governorship candidate of Labour Party in Lagos State.
Recently she also explained their game plan to City People. “First of all, our ambition is to get Lagos State away from the shackles of 23 years of one-party rule. One- party rule has really crippled this state. It has bastardized the institution. It has created all sorts, of problems from agberos, triple taxation, all issues that people are facing is just incredible, considering the amount of money Lagos State makes from IGR every month. We’re hoping to get a Lagos that works for every Lagosian, every kobo that is earned in Lagos State goes to Lagos State to work for every Lagosian in Lagos State. We want a Lagos where people can speak of freedom of speech, a Lagos where you can access any service you want, without having to be a member of this or anything. We want a Lagos where good education is free for our children, the Lagos that Jakande dreamed of, and created, that is the Lagos we want back. The Lagos where the money of the people works for the them. A Lagos where our youth are employed and empowered, they are not agberos, and they are not thugs, a Lagos where people graduate and feel proud to be Lagosians. A Lagos where you will not sit for four hours in traffic to get to your destination and another four hours when you’re going back. You see the issues Lagos is facing are enormous. We want to work with Lagosians to create a Lagos that is for everybody”.
As a woman aspirant what is the intention the party has for the women out their hustling to cater for their children and the girl child, we asked the Labour Party Deputy Governorship candidate.
“Women agenda is priority on our list. We have 35% representation for women. Lagos is one of the states that has not signed it into law. This is the first thing we are going to do when we get to government. Every government institution and political appointments will have representation of women. So the girl child in Lagos can have something to look up to, so I can be a governor, I can be someone I want to be, because the opportunity is there. We have to create a level-playing field for our women, to be able to compete, able to be in employment, able to be in businesses, able to access services easily. We have to empower our mothers, women, widows, and pensioners, they are all suffering in Lagos. We have to create an environment where our women can strive in whatever they put their hands to do, we have to create educational institutions for them, we have to create trainings and employment that empower our women. We have a lot on women agenda, that’s why we are meeting with women groups, to find out what they actually want from Lagos State government, what they want in this Lagos and be part of the Lagos of our dreams. But first thing on our list of agenda is that we must give them 35%” representation.
Let’s tell you more about the Labour Party in Lagos. The party is part of the Labour Party at the national level, with branches across the 36 states of the federation. Let’s tell you a bit more about the Labour Party that was formed by a group of politicians in Ibadan in 2002, with 10% underground stakeholdership, involvement and participation of some leaders of the NLC/TUC labour union leaders, as at that time, under the name, The Platform People.
Those Platform People were the NLC/TUC formation stakeholders in the Labour Party. They were leaders of the labour unions who took part in the formation of the Labour Party that year.
Let us also reveal that the Party of Social Democracy (PSD) was the first name of the party, before it was changed to Labour Party a year after, in order to make it attractive to and be widely accepted by civil servants/workers across Nigeria.
So, it is not the NLC/TUC, which absolutely owns the Labour Party. It is just part of the formation founding-father ownership and shareholding of the party.
The labour unions in Nigeria are only entiled to 10% stakeholdership in the running of the party. And that is why the Constitution of the party only recommends that the slot of the NLC/TUC in the exco of the party in any state is just one.
One slot for the NLC, and one slot for the TUC. That is their statutory slots in the state exco formation of any state in Nigeria, including Lagos State. City People gathered that the activities of the Nigerian Labour Union is different from activities of the Labour Party because the NLC/TUC is different from the Labour Party.
So, it is not only the NLC/TUC that owns the Labour Party in Nigeria, City People gathered that 90% of the ownership stake is by the founding politicians, who came up with the idea of the party in 2002.
So, how does the Labour Party run in Lagos? We can tell you. It is headed by Comrade Olukayode Ezekiel Salako, a seasoned politician. He it is who runs the affairs of the party in the state. Comrade Barrister Julius Abure is the National Chairman of the party. He it was who appointed Comrade Olukayode Salako as the State Chairman of the party in Lagos State. He is a member of the Forum of the 36 State Chairmen of Labour Party in Nigeria, the 18 Chairmen of all the registered political parties in Nigeria (IPAC) and the main signatory to the bank accounts of the party in the state. He is also the custodian of the legally valid politico-operational structure of the party in the state.
To assist Olukayode Salako, the State Chairman is the Lagos Exco of Labour Party, with the following members: Chief Seyi Sowunmi (Deputy Chairman), Engr. Adeola Adebanjo (Deputy Chairman), Chief Sam Emeka Okpala (State Secretary), Mr. Lanre Adenuga (Deputy State Chairman), Mr. Ayinla (Deputy State Chairman), Chief Tony Obi (Deputy State Chairman), Mrs. Olubunmi Odesanya (Deputy State Chairman), Mrs. Yetunde Adedayo (State Organizing Secretary), Barrister Abass Ibrahim (State Legal Adviser), Mrs. Titi Oworu (State Woman Leader), Mr. Egbewole Adewole (State Treasurer), Chief Joseph Onuorah (State Publicity Secretary), Adesegbe Ehiagator (Youth Leader), Michael Ogunbor (State Financial Secretary), Laura Tolulope Ogunsola (Assistant State Secretary), Edirin Eghagha (Assistant Youth Leader), Ijeoma Anele (Assistant State Secretary), Ebuka Morah (Auditor), Oloye Victor Gboyega Adeniji (Deputy State Leader), Lady Funke Awolowo (Deputy State Woman Leader), Pastor Mrs. Dayo Ekong (Deputy State Woman Leader), Alhaja Medina Balogun (Deputy State Woman Leader) and Osita Joseph (Assistant State Youth Leader).
We can also tell you that the emergence of the Labour Party in Lagos as a party to watch in the 2023 general elections is likely to negatively affect the chances of the PDP in Lagos State. We hear the PDP leaders are worried stiff because most of the traditional strongholds of the PDP in Lagos have been taken over by the Labour Party. Its Igbo support base is also threatened by the rise of the Obidient Movement members. The fact that the Labour Party’s governorship candidate defected from the PDP is also a big issue.
Some political analysts believe that the Labour Party will do well in the election. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the party’s governorship candidate in the state, defected from the PDP after failing to get its deputy gubernatorial ticket.
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