From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Ahead of the rescheduled governorship and State House of Assembly elections to next Saturday, the Kaduna State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has warned the major opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop wooing its candidate, Jonathan Asake to step down from the race to pave way for its (PDP) success at the polls.
Speculation was high soon after the presidential election that the PDP was holding secret meetings with Asake, impressing on him to join forces with the major opposition party to defeat the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) at the governorship polls.
However, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, members of the Kaduna State chapter of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of Labour Party led by its State Coordinator, Malachy Mathias Gwatiyap said PDP should rather join forces with LP to fight a common enemy at the polls.
“The PDP should stop the manipulation and conspiracy of dragging respectable elders and statesmen to prevail on our candidate to negotiate with them. Such an act is manipulative and shameful of a party claiming good intentions. Rt. Hon Jonathan Asake will not step down from the race. He is in the race to win, just as all Labour Party contestants for the State House of Assembly.
“However, we are calling on the PDP to bury her pride, settle for her past glory and explore respectful ways of joining the people’s movement for a new breed of political class that will birth a new Nigeria and restore hope in Kaduna State.We call on all electorate in Kaduna state in all wards and polling units to disregard any rumour whether from politicians or religious groups claiming we are no longer in the race. It is mischief aimed at robbing Kaduna its golden chance of being reclaimed from the hands of wolves. We enjoin you all to come out en mass, vote Labour Party from bottom to top. We assure you your votes will count and together Kaduna will take its place of pride and rich diversity
“It has come to our notice that some groups of desperate politicians in the PDP who are due for retirement but are bent on clinching power at all cost are into campaign of calumny against the Labour Party.They have used false propaganda against our candidate Rt. Hon. Jonathan Asake and it failed; they have deceived some Christian clergies into believing that the Labour Party have agreed to work together with PDP in order to defeat the common enemy (the APC); they have accused our candidate of being sponsored by the APC all in a bid to discredit us before the people.
“This particular antic is not only false, but an attempt to insult the person and character of our candidate. We want to state clearly that none of these accusations is true. Now they are misinterpreting the call by our presidential candidate Dr. Peter Obi on the governorship election in Rivers State that it must not be LP to be that it should be PDP.
“We the members of the Kaduna State Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) want to make it clear that our principal His Excellency Dr. Peter Obi the people’s President said that we should consider candidates based on character, competence, capacity, and compassion in the March, 18th 2023 gubernatorial elections across Nigeria.
“Any candidate deficient of the qualities above should partner with the Labour Party or vice versa. It is known by all that our candidate in person of Rt. Hon. Jonathan Asake is the only candidate that has no case to answer in any court of law whatsoever. Our candidate’s qualification and certificates are not in question. Our candidate has acquired experience as a onetime lecturer, vibrant and vocal legislator at the national assembly, adviser to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the immediate past successful President of over 3.6 million people as at the population census of 2006, made up of over 57 different tribes of the Southern Kaduna extraction. That is a responsibility equal to being a governor of some states in Nigeria.
“Our candidate has put at stake his personal and political carrier in order to empathize with victims of the attacks in Kaduna State more than all the other candidates put together. These and many more too numerous to mention made him the best in character, competence, capacity, and compassion”. Gwatiyap said.