The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has told delegates of the Labour Party (LP), at the party’s primaries in Asaba, Delta State, that Nigerians expect LP to make a difference and rescue the country from poverty, insecurity, and civil strife among other challenges confronting the country.

The president of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, in a message to the ongoing primaries taking place in Asaba, urged the delegates to only elect candidates who subscribe to the “Workers Charter of Demands,” insisting that “delegates should be wary of aspirants who only mouth their progressive credentials.”

Wabba said, “Weighty consideration should be given to candidates whose track record demonstrates panache, restraint, integrity and fiscal discipline. We want delegates to elect candidates who are pro-Nigeria and pro-workers and who will unite the country.

“Our ideal candidates must not be looters but patriots who will transform every kobo earned as revenue by Nigeria into valuable projects that elevate the narrative of our national development. Our ideal candidates must leave no one behind particularly educated and non-educated youths. We must restore hope in the future of our youths.

“We enjoin Nigerian youths to continue to identify with the Labour Party and adopt the party as their own. The job of unseating and retiring deadwood politicians whose worldview of politics is self-service and nepotism has begun in full earnest. The task will not be easy but just as President Nelson Mandela said: “It appears impossible until it is done.

“The new Labour Party is the party for workers, pensioners, ordinary Nigerians, the talakawas, the family, papa, mama, ‘pikin’, farmers, market women and men, and small and medium enterprises operators as the party symbolizes a human-centred approach to development,” he said.

According to the NLC President, “NLC relishes with great gusto the renewed sense of hope sweeping across the country as a rejuvenated Labour Party makes giant political strides all over the country. It is no longer news that credible, progressive and patriotic politicians, market women, professionals, artisans and the youth of our country are daily trooping to the Labour Party. It is dawning on reactionary politicians that the Labour Party is fully astir and ready to roar.

“The readiness of the Labour Party to roar is proved by the fact that the party’s engagement with the political process in Nigeria is shaped by issues that are dear to the people of Nigeria especially as contained in the Nigerian Workers Charter of Demands. Our Charter of Demands talks about the prioritization of investment in the education and health sectors. Our Charter of Demands places premium interest in the security of lives and property as the foundation of a socio-economic renaissance.

“We commend and support the leadership of the Labour Party led by Comrade Julius Abure who is a former trade union leader for working with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress to reposition the Labour Party. Millions of Nigerian workers and pensioners are latching on to the new vigour and vision of the Labour Party to take ownership of the long-suspended delivery of the Nigeria of our collective dreams.

“Such dreams are epitomized by the success of the Labour Party in different parts of the world. A few days ago, the Labour Party in Australia was overwhelmingly voted into power as Australians yearned for major reforms that would deliver a country that works for all,” he added. (Courtesy, excluding headline, Vanguard)

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