The Labour Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate in Plateau State, Dr Patrick Sunday Dakum has said that those Nigerians and political opponents who believe that the party is a social media and youth event will be shocked at the level of victories it will record in 2023 general elections.
This was even as Dr Dakum said that if Labour Party is voted into power under his watch, he will collaborate with civil servants to move the State forward for the betterment of its people.
In this interview, the governorship hopeful noted that Labour Party has a convincing influence on officials and members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade union Congress (TUC) across the country that are ready to vote the party into power both at the state and national level in 2023.
“One of the things I am inundated with every day is the request from people from different villages, I am not talking of towns who want me to come and commission the Labour Party offices in their villages, and for me, it is a total departure from the public narrative that the Labour Party is a social media event and is a youth event.
“I have gone to commission at least two rural-based Labour Party offices that were donated and also rebranded by local people who are desirous for a change, so the phenomenon is a Nigerian phenomenon for the Labour Party in terms of its resurrection. It is a national phenomenon and it is not just some young people somewhere trying to make noise, no it is not like that, it is real in Plateau State and I believe in Nigeria, it is real.
“The journey so far is that I have already gotten a deputy governorship candidate (my running mate) in the person of the Hon. Barr. Edward Pwajok (SAN), and comes with a lot of complimentary experience because number one he was a former Commissioner and attorney general of Plateau State.
“The other thing we have done so far in the Labour Party is to have a retreat that comprises of our local government Labour Party officials and it also included Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade union Congress representatives at the Local government level.
“And it also included the representatives of the political commission of the Nigerian Labour Congress, then it also included representatives of a selected support group and then all the candidates of the party in the State including myself and my deputy.
“It was hosted principally by the state executive team of the Labour Party for Plateau State. And the retreat organised at the national level was a download of that one, and the theme for the Plateau State retreat was Plateau State at a cross road and Labour Party was the only solution and also used the opportunity to review our strengths and weakness.
“The opportunities we had and the threat we face both internally and externally and then proffer solutions on the way forward. I think it was a very good retreat in the sense that it enabled us to look inward and then enabled us to plan how we were going to ensure we win the election at all levels.
“And the focus of the course is winning the Presidential election as contributed by Plateau State, and we believe that Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti will win the Presidential election in Plateau State and then, of course, myself and Edward Pwajok will win at the State level. And we are confident that our candidates at every other level that we fielded in every other level will win the election.
“So we have outlined our strategies and we believe that with God on our side we are going to push forward. And the people of Plateau State are weary and they are tired of existing policies that are being initiated they also don’t want to go back to where they were coming from that is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and therefore a new platform they believe will provide a better opportunity for them to contribute.
“And remember that the Labour Party is a party that was created by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the civil servants in Plateau State, the trade union Congress. These are people who really, really want to be practically involved in how the State is run and I think this is the opportunity for them. So that was a very good milestone.
“We have also been moving ahead meeting different kinds of stakeholders in the party and fine tuning the list that we have because so many people that want to be on the State campaign Council, like you know in plateau State we are going to be working for hand in gloves with the presidential campaign organization because they have already identified two leaders in Plateau State that will stir the Presidential aspect of the campaign organisation because in plateau State it is going to be a very integrated campaign where we are going to be talking about all our candidates from President right down to House of Assembly when we go out to campaign.
“And when the Presidential team is having an event we will also be there to ensure that people see this as a movement, not just a Peter Obi movement but a Labour movement in Nigeria, and that is how far we have gone. Our consultations are continuing and we are looking forward to concluding and releasing the list of people in our campaign council then we are going to go ahead to flag off our campaign in a couple of weeks’ time. We also do have a director general for our campaign organization at the state level, named Joel Gates, he is a former Commissioner in plateau State and he also comes in with a lot of grassroots experience and we are continuing.
“My message to the good people of Plateau State is the fact that they shouldn’t lose hope, we are surrounded by quite a lot of challenges, but we are also blessed people that God has not abandoned, and there is hope for Plateau and there is hope for Nigeria.
“And there is hope for a better Plateau, and there is hope for a better Nigeria. One of the key steps we need to take is to vote for the Labour Party and I believe working together Baba, Mama and pickin we will be able to take Plateau State and Nigeria to a point where we will say we are proud of our country”. Dr Dakum said.
