The Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in the South West, Banji Omotoso, has announced the complete integration of the party’s structure into the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a press conference in Akure, the capital of Ondo State.
Speaking on behalf of the new entrants in Akure, Ondo state capital, the South West Chairman of the party, Banji Omotoso, said the defection was informed by the lack of structure of the LP in the region, states, local and ward levels, saying that “the LP is not strong and cannot win a single seat in the region.
He said all the party chairmen in the six states of the region, zonal officers and national officers from the zone have dumped the LP to support the aspirations of the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Omotoso said the defection was not informed by ethnicity or religious affiliation but by his quality leadership and governance traits which stand him out among contenders for the election.
According to him, Tinubu was able to turn around Lagos during his tenure as the governor of the state, saying the APC candidate has promised to build a vibrant economy that would achieve double-digit growth when he becomes Nigeria’s president.
He expressed optimism that Tinubu would reset the nation on a path to achieve double-digit economic growth within a couple of years and said we don’t want to waste our votes, and we want to use this time to mobilise votes for him”
Omotoso said “Labour Party presently is a shaking platform for anybody to contest, Labour Party is a failed platform for anybody to contest, I don’t know Peter Obi and I’m less concerned about him but I’m concerned about those who celebrate the Labour Party are mediocre.
“Given this, we leaders of the Labour Party in the South-West have decided to leave the party because we have a lot of mediocre there and what they are looking for is money, they are not ready to serve Nigeria.
“Labour Party is not ready to serve Nigeria, that is why we decided to leave the party and come to the APC. We collapsed the structure of the party in Ekiti state during the last election, so, I don’t know how the Obi can win in the South-West.
“We are the pillars of that party in the South-West, and to the glory of God Almighty, we have pulled down the structure today. We are leaving and collapsing the Labour Party structure in the entire South-West through Senator Dayo Adeyeye and SWAGA into APC.
Receiving the LP defectors into the APC, the National Chairman of SWAGA, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, assured the defectors that they will be fully integrated into the party.
“Labour Party members have for a while been nursing the ambition to join APC. They insisted that they will join APC through SWAGA because it is the famous support group for Asiwaju, and that is being done today”
Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Oyetunde Ojo, said, “Tinubu is the person we have and we must not lose the opportunity as we did with Awolowo and MKO Abiola.
“Tinubu is coming to work particularly for the younger generation. He has vowed to tackle the issue of electricity, unemployment, electricity, foreign exchange.”
