The state branch of the Labour Party (LP) dropped its gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Tawfiq Akinwale, and announced support for the governor, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, yesterday, giving Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State a boost in his drive for a second term (PDP).
Ahead of the state’s March 11 gubernatorial and assembly elections, the party made the announcement on Sunday at a press conference held at its state headquarters in Ibadan.
Atayase Sadiq, the state chairman of the LP, spoke to the media and stated that the endorsement came after the party carefully considered Makinde’s accomplishments during the last few years of his administration and after extensive consultation with party members from all 33 local government areas of the state.
He continued by saying that the party made the decision to back the PDP candidate because Makinde’s ideologies were similar to their own in terms of security, the development of infrastructure, agriculture and industry, health, financial independence, and the economic well-being of the populace.
He insisted that the party carefully examined and evaluated each of the potential governor candidates and found that Makinde stood out above the rest in terms of moral fiber, ability, and sympathy for the populace.
In addition, the party believed that Makinde should be permitted to “continue the fantastic work he has started to engender another four years of enormous development in Oyo State,” according to Sadiq.
“We believe the correct thing for us to do is to get together and establish an alliance with a candidate whose ideology and program are similar to ours, Makinde remains the only candidate that will serve our interest,” he said.
Because Makinde has proven himself as an exceptional governor, “we as LP have resolved to back Makinde with our structure across the 33 local government of the state.”
On the fact that the party had Akinwale as a candidate for governor, Sadiq stated that despite Akinwale being the candidate, the party chose to endorse Makinde because it was in the best interests of the party and the state’s residents.
The chairman of the Labour party further claimed that the party decided to back Makinde because an objective analysis of Akinwale showed that he was not capable of winning the election.
When endorsing Makinde, Sadiq claimed that the party had maintained its organizational structure and will continue to do so in order to assist its other House of Assembly candidates.
His Excellency, Engineer Oluseyi Makinde outperforms the others in our in-depth evaluation of the governorship candidates for the March 11, 2023 election in terms of character, competence, capacity, and compassion for people, the speaker stated.
“As a result, we at the Labour Party of Oyo State have resolved to back his reelection for another four years of enormous growth in Oyo state by using the full structure of our party throughout the 33 local governments. And we urge all Oyo State residents to support him in large numbers at the polls. He is due it.
“He is the one who will look out for the interests of the general public the most. Not that we are dismantling the party system. The party structure is still in place, and it will be used for other things. We will continue to support our candidates for the House of Assembly.
“Tawfiq Akinwale is still running for governor. A candidate is thrown up for a certain process. After the primary, the winner becomes the party’s candidate after being chosen or elected.
“Tawfiq Akinwale is the party’s nominee, but the party structure conducted an objective and detached evaluation of our gber nominee and determined that, on an average day, there is no chance he can win that election.
