Remi Adefulu
The Assistant Secretary General of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), Mr Emma Ugboaja, has declared intent to contest for the Bende Federal Constituency seat in Abia State.
In a statement issued in Lagos, last week, the activist, who is also a lawyer, said his entrance into the race is to bring his experience to bear on his people.
“The people desire a new style of leadership at the federal level. Constituency projects must be executed and the people must feel that they belong in governance; rather than far from it.
“We must solve our challenges with bold and innovative ideas. Without these ideas and a real plan for progress, we cannot utilise government’s capacity to help people when they need it,” he said.
Ugboaja added that his campaign stands for equitable distribution of natural resources and promised that he will work with like minds to harness the vast human resources that abound in the South East.
He also vowed to work towards restoring dignity in labour; to ensure that workers will always receive their wages and attributed the overwhelming support for his candidature to the will of Bende people.
The labour leader explained that he is contesting because he believes that his constituency needs leadership that would not leave anyone behind and that if he is elected, he will work tirelessly to ensure that all Bende sons and daughters have a fair shot to get ahead with brighter future.
Ugboaja, who hails from Nkpa area of Bende Local Government, was a labour delegate to the National Constitutional/Political Reform Conference in 2005, during former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
He was also a delegate to the national Constitutional Conference in 2014 during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, as well as an African delegate to the World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2003.
Ugboaja also represented Africa as a delegate to the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, in 2005.
He was also a Nigerian representative in an exchange programme in Japan, on productive improvement.
In 2012, he was a Nigerian delegate to the International Labor Organisation congress in Switzerland.