Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, the national chairman of the Labour Party, has said the return of Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past governor of Ondo State, to the party would add greater value.
Abdulsalam, in his speech at the event marking Mimiko’s official return on Thursday, June 14, 2018, said the Labour Party is elated that a social democrat like Mimiko, who through his sterling performances as Governor mainstreamed pro-people and pro-poor policies, programmes and projects, is returning to add value to the party.
He said “His people’s oriented programmes in health, education, housing, rural development, urban renewal, youth and women empowerment attest to the value inherent in his return to the party. In him, we have an example of what power could be used to achieve on the side of the people”
Abdulsalam further stated that “our hope and confidence is rekindled by his (Mimiko’s) return to the party to be part of the renaissance of the party and Nigeria. I assure him of our support and commitment at all times.”
The Labour party chairman also addressed the issue of political power which he said should not be an end but a vehicle for the transformation of the country and that the party is positioned to ensure national cohesion, peace, security, stability and prosperity for all.
Meanwhile, Mimiko has said his return to the Labour Party was based on the conviction that the party offers Nigerians a better platform for a truly ideologically driven alternative to reposition Nigeria.
Mimiko, who was speaking while addressing the crowd gathered at his official return to the Labour Party, in Ondo town, on Thursday, said the decision to leave the LP in 2014 was not borne out of any disagreement with LP, either ideologically or operationally, neither was there any personal gain in focus in moving over to PDP at that time.
“It is our hope moving forward, that working within LP, and hand-in-hand with other Nigerians of like minds, we would begin to sharpen the ideological divide in Nigerian politics, with a view to mainstreaming the welfare and interest of the mass of our people.” He added
“Our formation considers it perhaps more important to have a platform with which we can begin to sensitize the Nigerian people to the requisite ideological clarity without which governance in the country will continue to operate at the mundane level – serving only the interest of the few, while marginalizing that of the many.” the former governor said.
He also stated his conviction that the LP would provide Nigerians with real alternatives and help the electorate in making informed decisions as to which individual or platform to invest with power; and how to hold such to account at all times.
