From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
As Imo State prepares for the November 11 gubernatorial election, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Basil Maduka, has predicted a resounding victory for his party, saying the people are already celebrating in advance as they expect the party to restore the lost glory of the state.
He said the task ahead for LP in Imo after winning the election was to rescue and rebuild it from the damages done to it by the incumbent administration.
Maduka, who was also a contestant in the primaries conducted by LP in Imo, said not clinching the ticket would not deter him from working hard to secure Imo for LP.
He spoke in Abuja on Wednesday where he promised to rally support for the candidate of the party in the Imo election, Senator Athan Achonu to ensure the party wins with a landslide victory.
Maduka said he was now supporting the party fully since the Supreme Court had declared Achonu authentic flag bearer of the party.
He added that he had no business with the Lamidi Apapa – led faction of the Labour Party.
He said: “I want to categorically state that I am not associated with any faction within the Labour Party, particularly in Apapa. These claims are baseless and are being spread in an attempt to tarnish my reputation and exclude me from participating in party affairs.
“I am surprised that some people are saying I am not known in the party. Nobody can say that in Imo. You know, when some people want to be relevant through social media or wherever. I mean, somebody who formed the party, financed the party till after the presidential election, now somebody’s telling you that you’re not part of the party, that’s to tell you that something is happening somewhere
“As a result of those two primaries because there was a matter in court, these groups now produced me as their candidate. The one by their committee also had a candidate led by Senator Achonu and myself are the two known candidates. This one was a committee, the other one was the people already in court where they asked the party to remain status quo.
“So, we had to go to court so that the court could interpret who is legitimate or who is not”.