Chief Innocent Sunday Okeke (Agumba), the Labour Party National Vice Chairman
South East zone has urged people in Imo State to vote the party’s candidates in House of Assembly elections on Saturday.
The Labour Party chieftain alleged that the ruling party tried to steal the mandate of various Labour Party Candidates in both presidential and national assembly election ls on February 25 but Imo people stood firm.
In a press briefing in Owerri on Thursday, Chief Sunday Okeke vowed that the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi will recover his mandate.
Bellow is text of the Briefing
TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE DELIVERED BY CHIEF INNOCENT SUNDAY OKEKE (AGUMBA), ON THURSDAY, THE 16TH DAY OF MARCH, 2023.
Good day gentlemen of the press.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to this all important press conference.
My name is Chief Innocent Sunday Okeke, the National Vice Chairman, South-East zone of the Labour Party.
By the grace of God, I have been expressly mandated by our National Working Committee to henceforth superintend over the affairs of Labour Party in Imo state.
So without wasting much of your time, I will go straight into the business of the day.
Without a doubt, every honest Nigerian will attest to the fact that the Labour Party (LP) has become a political party of choice among Nigerians and ofcourse, the party to beat,across the country, in the forthcoming election.
Our party represents the full embodiment of the aspirations of everyday Nigerians. This reality has transformed the Labour Party into the most formidable election-winning political platform in Nigeria.
To this end, we cannot thank Nigerians and Ndi-South East zone enough for their love, faith and support for our party and candidates in the last election.
To our people in Imo State, nobody can forget the impassioned solidarity and firm loyalty you have at all times shown the Labour Party, as was reflected in the massive voting of our Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in the February 25 Presidential election.
In Imo however, we are not unaware of the enormous challenges and obstacles contrived to subvert the will of Imo people in the last election, but you defied the odds, stood firm and still hauled in a massive number of votes for our candidates, across board.
They went to great lengths to steal the vote of Imo people, but you surmounted their evil plots and delivered our candidates.
We are also privy to the fact that the Police Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was deployed to other purposes outside election security and was used in some places to undermine the choice of the people, yet Ndi-Imo stood strong!
It was so bad that results were manufactured for the ruling party in areas where no election was held and the compliant and complicit INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Imo state, accepted same, as valid results, all in a desperate bid to undercut the landslide victory of our great party in Imo state.
Ndi-Imo, we know that after all the sacrifices and sleepless nights, the brazen roguery and violation of the people’s will by INEC, would have left most of you bruised and your morale dampened.
That is why we came here today to tell you that the mandate you gave us will not be lost! Without a shadow of doubt, I wish to state categorically that our Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi will recover his mandate! Whatever they stole from us, we shall recover!
We hereby reassure you that all the atrocious shenanigans you witnessed in the last election will be subdued on Saturday, March 18. We have put necessary machinery in motion to contain the impunity and electoral desperation of the ruling party in Imo state.
In furtherance of our many previous complaints, we also make bold to say to INEC that there shall be consequences if the Commission allows itself or its officials to again, assume complicit roles in the subversion of the will of the people and the sabotage of our Democratic process.
We therefore urge you all to come out en masse on Saturday, the 18th of March and vote in LP candidates into the Imo House of Assembly in preparation for the first LP Governor of Imo state later this year.
We do not need to remind you how Imo, once known across the country for peace and hospitality, has degenerated into a nightmare in the last four years, inflicting terror on its residents and scaring off investors, in a clear depiction of a failed state.
To say the least, Imo has become a shadow of its past.
So, if you do not wish to keep romancing insecurity in the name of fighting insecurity, LP is the party to vote!
If you want an end to the intimidation and harassment of citizens by state actors, vote LP on Saturday!
If you desire a government that is open and accountable, where you will be free to participate in a transparent government and contribute freely in the decision-making process, on issues that concern you as a citizen, the journey to a new Imo begins this Saturday. Vote LP!
I say this without fear of equivocation that LP represents the political watershed that Imo so desperately needs at a time like this.
We have a Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi who has become the centerpiece of the 2023 general elections. His brand of politics has distinguished him!
With the Obi effect in our political landscape, Nigerian politicians are beginning to learn that the old order is no longer sustainable.
Our party, the LP is also speedily evolving and reforming, and as such, we have no doubt that every candidate of LP is aware and mindful of the uncompromising standard in decency, credibility and competence, expected of them by the leadership of our party.
So as Imo people vote for LP on Saturday, they can rest assured that they are voting for honourable men, who shall be focused and committed to making only people-oriented legislations.
With these lawmakers, we assure you that every obnoxious legislation that is not in the greater interest of the vast majority of Imo people will be reviewed.
This crop of lawmakers will put an end to clique interest in the Imo State House of Assembly, while enthroning collective interests for public good.
As you all already know, the hand of God is on the Labour Party, to change the lot of the ordinary Nigerians including Imo people, for the better.
We therefore urge you, great people of Imo state, to join us in this journey to redeem our land and make it peaceful and prosperous for all of us.
Stay the course, hold your ground, for victory is within reach!
Thank you!
Signed:
Chief Innocent Sunday Okeke (Agumba)
National Vice Chairman
South East zone
Labour Party
