Francis Ogbuagu 
The Labour Party in Edo State on Wednesday inaugurated their campaign council ahead of the September 21, governorship election in the state.
The party announced clergyman, Bishop Sam Omede as the Director General of Bar Olumide Akpata Governorship Campaign Council, while other sub-committees were constituted to work for the actualization of Akpata’s governorship ambition.
Speaking, the Labour Party governorship candidate, Akpata said he was excited and confident over the inauguration of the Campaign Council and that going by the array of personalities in the council the party is sure to emerge victorious come the September 21 Governorship election.
He said, “I am extremely excited, I am extremely very grateful to God. Today is a significant milestone in our party’s campaign. I have full confidence in the team, the party has chosen right.
“If you listen carefully to the array of names that were mentioned, you see that they are seasoned gentlemen and ladies, they are loyal party men. The journey to the government house is not an easy journey at all. You need those who are experienced in politics, those who understand what campaigning is all about, and those who understand what politicking is all about.
“And if you look at the person of Bishop Sam Omede, you see that we have a person with these combined attributes, we know his antecedents, and we all know his worth.
He is a political giant in Edo State. It is good that the party has settled for him as our campaign Director General and the three deputy director generals for the three senatorial districts. We have coordinators in the 18 local government areas of Edo State, and the Labour Party has a presence in the 18 local government areas. You can understand why I am beaming with confidence and we are going to win the election come September 21.”
Earlier, in his welcome address the Chairman of the Labour Party in Edo State, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi urged the Labour Party members to forget their differences and unite in order to achieve their common goal. He said, there was a need to support Bar Olumide Akpata, the governorship candidate, to win the election, maintaining that he will change the living standard of every Edo person for the better.
“We want to assure you that Bar Olumide Akpata is poised to change the living standard of every Edo man for the better. We cannot waste the efforts of our candidate, and allow PDP or APC to continue in Osadebe Avenue.
“It is in that respect that I solicit with you that we cannot afford to begin to fight ourselves inside, deploy the energy outside and garner more members for our party. And ensure that our votes are defended most particularly. The ills we suffered, especially in the last election was that our votes were stolen.
“Let’s defend our votes first. We have resolved that no single vote will leave us, we must protect our votes. The first thing is that we will be able to cooperate, listen to ourselves and work together so that we can achieve our goals.”
Also, the Director General of the Olumide Akpata Campaign Council, Bishop Sam Omede said, they will coordinate the sub-committees to work for the actualization of their goal.
“We are here to sell our message, and our message is that there is a need to have a change of landlord. We have had an APC landlord, and we have also had a PDP landlord. Let’s try the Labour Party landlord and see the difference. Our logo speaks for us, our party stands for the people. Our people are suffering, things are more difficult in Nigeria today. We want to change the narrative.”
