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Accuse party leadership of turning party into private property
From John Adams, Minna
The Forum of Local Government Chairmen of the Labour Party in Niger State has unanimously endorsed the governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Hon Isa Liman Kantigi, ahead of the March 18 governorship and state House of Assembly elections, pointing to a major crisis in the party.
The 25 local government labour party Chairmen in the state said their decision to dump the party governorship candidate and threw their weight behind the PDP Candidate was informed by the attitude of the party stakeholders who they accused of “turning the party into personal property, leading to non-inclusiveness of the Chairmen of the party in the 25 local government areas.”
Addressing newsmen in Minna on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Chairmen forum, Hon Mahmud Adamu said though the party has a governorship candidate for the March 18 elections in the state, they decided to endorse the PDP candidate because of the reality on the ground ahead of the Saturday’s elections, pointing out that the Labour Party has no chance of winning the governorship election because the leadership has mismanaged the affairs of the party in the state for personal gains.
In addition to this, the Chairmen believed that the party should have respected the political zoning arrangements in the state since 1999 which now favoured the Niger South to produce the next governor for the state as the current Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello who is finishing his second term in office is from the same zone with the Labour Party governorship candidate, Hon Joshua Bawa.
This, the forum pointed out does not reflect the principle of equity, justice and fair play which the leader of the party and presidential candidate, Peter Obi, represents, adding that “we don’t want to waste our votes on Saturday.”
“We have therefore unanimously agreed to support the gubernatorial candidate of the People Democratic Party, Hon Isa Liman Kantigi ahead of other candidates because we are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that he has the experience, the integrity and the capacity to develop the state.”
The forum said though they remained strong members of the Labour Party in the state, it has become necessary to support a more formidable candidate, adding that “We, therefore, urged all our party supporters and loyalists to come out en mass and vote for Isa Liman Kantigi of the People’s Democratic Party on Saturday, March 18.”
All attempts to reach the party’s candidate, Hon Jushua Bawa, for comment were unsuccessful.
