The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Plateau State, Dr Patrick Sunday Dakum In an interview with newsmen, speaks on the party’s chances in next year’s governorship and presidential election.
The 2023 election is approaching, as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Plateau State who will contest against two major parties; APC and PDP, how far have you gone in actualizing your ambition?
Well, thank you very much because for me it has been a journey of faith, and right from the time I became the flag bearer up till now, I have been seeing and receiving the favour of God before people and communities. The journey so far is that I have already gotten a deputy governorship candidate in the person of the Honourable Barrister Edward Pwajok (SAN), and he comes with a lot of complimentary experience because number one, he was a former commissioner and attorney general of Plateau State. In fact, he was the longest-serving attorney general in Plateau State and he was also a former member of the federal house of representatives.
So he brings in not just an executive experience but a legislative experience and being a barrister who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, I think he also comes with a lot of experience and integrity and also in ensuring that the government we are going to form is a government that will be based on not justice but on social justice and I think that was a milestone. 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 governments 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 my self and my deputy.
It was hosted principally by the state executive team of the Labour Party for Plateau State. And the retreat organized at the national level was a download of that one, and the theme for Plateau State retreat was ‘Plateau State at a cross road and Labour Party the only solution’ and also we used the opportunity to review our strength and weakness. The opportunities we had and the threat we face both internally and externally and then proffer solution 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 on how we were going to ensure we win the election at all levels. The focus of 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 .
We have outlined our strategies and we believe that with God on our side, we are going to push forward. The people of Nigeria are tired of existing policies and they also don’t want to go back to where they were coming from. They therefore, believe that a new platform will provide a better opportunity for them to contribute. Remember that the Labour Party is a party that was created by the Nigerian Labour Congress, the civil servants and the Trade Union Congress. These are people that really want to be practically involved in how the nation 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 kind 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 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. So, with the people understanding our good plans and what we stand for, they will no more accept PDP and APC who had the opportunity to rule before but did not perform as expected.
How soon will you start your campaign as Peter Obi was already in Plateau and flagged off his own campaign?
Our consultations are continuing and we are looking forward to concluding and releasing the list of people in our campaign council and 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, his name is Joel Gatau, a former commissioner in Plateau State and he also comes in with a lot of grassroot experience and we are continuing.
Many people especially your political opponents are of the view that Labour Party is only visible on the social media and doesn’t pose serious threats to them, what will you say about this?
One of the things I am inundated with everyday 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. For me it is a total departure from the public narrative that the Labour Party is a social media event and is a youth movement. 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 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.
You said that people don’t want to go back to where they were coming from, but do you think you can defeat the APC and PDP who have strong structures?
Well, I don’t know about the performance of every other candidate but I do know that we have taken a lead from all the opinion that is coming out. We have already requested for a more scientific opinion poll that will give us a true picture of what it is, not just in Plateau State but in Nigeria. And we are looking for an independent body that we are not going to fund but we are only going to ask them to do a very independent job and tell us where we are. Because I believe if an opinion poll says that you are not ahead it is a good poll because it tells you that you have got work to do and we want to be challenged so that we will be able to work harder. If the PDP is the next party people are talking about, I really don’t know but I believe that it is probably because the outreach or the sentiment that are here on ground a lot of times when I go out it shows the fact that Labour Party is the one that is ahead and a few people also tell me that People’s Democratic party (PDP) is the one that is trailing in the second position. But whomever that is trailing second or behind me because I am not going to be looking backward, my job is to look forward and ensure that I keep my eye on the finishing line because if you are running a race and you start looking backward to see who is following you before you turn your face forward, the person behind you will probably would have gone ahead of you. So we are very determined and we are going to work very hard, we are going to pray very hard and we are going to look onto God for several things including wisdom and also result.
What is your reaction to Governor Lalong’s threat to deal with any political party that does not play by the rules of political engagement in Plateau State?
I don’t know what the state government is planning and I don’t know what informed the governor’s statement that people should play by the rules. But I can tell you that Labour Party is one of the parties that is very, very committed to play by the rules, not just the rules that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set for parties but moral rules meaning that as we play politics, we know that we are our brothers keepers and therefore no Labour Party person will do anything that will cause anything, that will cause a breach of peace, that one we are sure and certain of. If you watch all our outings we have had, there has been no any breach of peace. In Plateau State, we did a one million man match and if supporters of Labour Party and Peter Obi would organize a walk that over one million people participated in and we did not have a single case of breach of peace, then if we could also welcome Peter Obi to Plateau State in September 28th and he came in peacefully, visited the traditional council and then went on to commission an office donated by an individual for the presidential campaign and went on to Rampam stadium and addressed the crowd that filled the whole place and he went back safely, well, I don’t know if this is not supposed to be a pass mark for Labour Party.
Well, we are looking forward to other parties also coping from what Labour Party has done by being as peaceful as Labour Party. If APC will be as peaceful and PDP will be as peaceful as Labour Party then we don’t have any reason to be worried about for the governor’s call. But I want to believe that the governor probably is doing what he should do as the leader in terms of maintaining peace and order. He is the chief security officer of the state, so calling on everybody to play by the rules is playing his role as the chief security officer of the state. But if he has any information of anybody that is threatening the peace of the state, I guess he is the best person to be able to call such people by name and call them to order.
At times, ruling parties are accused of rigging elections, do you have that fear in Plateau State?
As for whether the APC is planning to rig the election is not what is worrying the Labour Party in Plateau. We are going to be out there and we are going to make sure that our votes count and we are going to do it peacefully. We have asked all people that are prospective party agents, we are going to train them on what they need to do and I am sure they will do the needful including alerting security officials that are at every polling unit when there is any threat or any suspicion of rigging election. And by the way, we already have raised alarm over the fact that a group of people were going around asking innocent vulnerable people to provide them with details of their PVCs including numbers and some instances taking pictures of their PVCs. We do not know how this will be used if it comes to rigging election but we have raised alarm and we have sent out teams to markets places, to villages to educate people that their PVCs are much stronger than their ATM cards. And as they do not allow anybody to take pictures of their ATMs, so they have no business allowing anybody to take a complete picture or the number of their PVCs. We believe that this is already taking effect because recently we understood that some women completely chased some people out of their community who were trying to cajole them by telling them they were going to give them some money if they provide their PVC details.
If you are elected the governor of Plateau state in the forthcoming general election, how are you going to treat workers because in some states, paying salaries and pensions are problems?
I did make reference to a fact and I want you to link it to what I am saying and the fact that I stated that the Labour Party is the party of the Nigerian Labour Congress. The Nigeria Labour Congress has a lot of its members as civil servants and the first thing we are going to do is to review the situation because right now I cannot vouch for what is real and what is not. By the time we take over the government, we will definitely sit down and review it and I can tell you that the review will include the active participation of civil servants, those who are owed salaries will be part of the review so that whatever it is, they can vouch for it and whatever we are taking over, they can say this is it. I believe it will block loopholes and it will ensure salaries are paid as first line charge then we will be able to make a mileage until we get over that and then begin to see what other things we can do to make a worker enjoy his work. A salary is only a little part of what gives satisfaction to a worker. A worker will feel satisfied if the input that he is doing matters in the state and that his input is contributing to the progress of the state. You know that Plateau State is also one of the states we are having deficiency in the middle cadre of the civil service.
There are a lot of things that we are already looking at and we are already setting up teams to provide us with bullets points of what the first line of action will be. I believe that by the special grace of God, we will get over it.
The security situation in Plateau State is still not good as crises and killings recur, what will you do to fight the menace if elected the governor of the state?
I think it is a million-dollar question but I think if I am going to answer it, is going to be one phrase because our security efforts will be community-based. Community-based in the sense that we are going to ensure that first respondents in terms of crisis management are adequately provided with all the resources they need. But we are also going to strengthen the peace-building agency for conflict prevention. If we prevent conflict, then it reduces the stress of managing crises when it comes. And if we are going to be involving the communities right from the traditional rulers, community leaders and community-based organisations, then I think that that type and kind of policing and response is going to reduce crises. You cannot also address the issue of kidnapping especially if there is no active participation of the community. So let us just leave it at our strategy and our approach to community base. And I think that some of the issues are things we also discuss within a more close base security thing.
Finally, what is your message to Plateau State people as you are about to kick off your campaign?
A: 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 a 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 pikin we will be able to take Plateau State and Nigeria to a point where we will say we are proud of our country.
