Akpata, ex-NBA president, declares to contest Edo guber poll with LP

Olumide Akpata, the immediate past President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) on Thursday stormed the Edo State Secretariat of the Labour Party to formally announce his intention to contest for the 2024 governorship election on the platform of the party.

BusinessDay reports that the legal luminary stormed the secretariat with supporters, saying the interest for the people of Edo State is the force behind his intention to govern the State.

He said he decided to aspire for the Governorship seat on the platform of Labour Party (LP), noting that among the registered political parties in the country, LP is only party that is people-oriented.

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While lamenting that the people have been taken out of the equation in governance and politics, he assured that if given the party’s ticket as a candidate in the September 21, 2024 Governorship election, he would change the political narrative of the State

“My interest is for the people of Edo State. And what I find out in politics and governance in Nigeria today is that the people have been taken out of the equation. Nobody cares about the people.

“So, when I look around, the only party I find to be people-oriented and to be interested in the lots of our people is Labour Party. So, I have come here to express my interest and to carry the people along”, he said.

He promised to take the Labour Party (LP) to greater heights if nominated as the candidate of the party during its primary election.

The former, NBA president, who appealed for a level-playing ground for all the aspirants, urged would-be party’s delegates to consider merit above ethnic and primordial sentiments.

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He however concluded that the people of the State need the best among the aspirants to govern them, and not a diasporic governor.

Earlier, Kelly Ogbaloi, the State Chairman of the party, said the State Working Committee of the party had accepted to allow him to run, just as he promised a level-playing ground for all aspirants.