The leadership of Labour Party, LP, have expressed their delight with the at the return of Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past governor of Ondo State, to the party.
Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, the national chairman of the party, in his thrilled tone said the return of the former governor and his supporters would add more value to the party.
In an e-mailed statement to The Trent on Thursday, June 14, 2018, the chairman, admonished the public, especially party members and supporters to discountenance remarks credited to one Mike Omotosho, saying Mimiko was not welcome back to the party.
“The Labour Party wishes to dismiss in its entirety a statement credited to one Mike Omotosho purporting to reject the return to the Labour Party of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past Governor of Ondo State and his teeming supporters.
“We state that the position expressed by this individual does not reflect the position of the executive and members of the party across the country.
“The Labour Party is elated that a social democrat like Dr. 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.
“Contrary to the views expressed via the said statement, we state that the Labour Party is open to all Nigerians who subscribe to her goals, programmes and social democratic ideology, and does not owe her existence to any single individual outside the provisions of its Constitution.
“Indeed, Article 9.1 of the Constitution of the Labour Party provides that “the membership of the party shall be open to all Nigerians who accept its ideology, programmes and the Constitution irrespective of their religion, ethnic origin, gender, social and economic status…”
“We have in the past few months embarked on processes to attract credible Nigerians with social democratic inclination to our party and wonder why anybody claiming to be committed to the party has taken the undemocratic and lawless path of turning back credible members.
“We hope this is not an effort to decimate the party for the benefit of some unknown forces.
“We are alarmed that Mr Omotosho claimed that the Labour Party has no candidate for the Ekiti Governorship election. This is to say the least, outrageous.
“We state without any equivocation, that Dr Sikiru Lawal, a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti, is the candidate of our dear party. He has not only been nominated by the party, but has also been cleared and have had his name published by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC.
“We urge Nigerians, especially the good people of Ekiti State, to disregard this unfortunate and misguided position expressed by Mr Omotosho.
“We also invite Nigerians to the spectacle that the return of Dr Mimiko to our party promises to be,” the statement ended.
