Kwara state chapter of the Labour Party has suspended its governorship candidate for Saturday governorship in the state, Comrade Basambo Abubakar, for alleged anti-party activities.
The state chairman of the party, Comrade Kehinde Rotimi who alongside ieaders, support groups and members of the party and the party’s candidates for other posts , addressed newsmen in Ilorin said Abubakar is suspended until further notice.
The party which accused the governorship candidate if misleading information to members of the public said it had not aligned with any governorship candidate or political party in the state for the governorship elections.
Abubakar had on Monday while speaking with journalists, said that Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara state had decided to align political forces and work together in the March 18 governorship elections in the state in the hope of forming a unity government after governorship election victory.
The governorship candidate who is a former aide to former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had said that the union was expected to birth a collective dream for a prosperous Kwara state.
The Labour Party chairman alleged that Abubakar acted against what the party stands for saying that the governorship candidate had no such authorities to have announced alignment of Labour Party with any political party in the state.
Rotimi who enjoined members of the public to disregard the statement credited to Abubakar said that all House of Assembly candidates of the party are still in the race, urging electorate to troop out en masse on Saturday to vote Labour Party.
He stated: “We’re here to set the record straight. Labour Party is a political party with ideology, based on social justice and equality. Labour Party had not adopted candidacy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Shuaib Yaman Abdulahi, as said by Basambo Abubakar. He has no such authority to issue such statement on behalf of the party.
“We’re in a very sober mood right now because of our presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, who was massively voted for by Nigerians, but Nigerian system came into being as usual. Currently, he’s challenging the result of the election in court. So, it’s morally wrong for us to come out and say we’re adopting another party for governorship election against the wish of our presidential candidate”.
The state chairman of the Labour Party also said that the presidential candidate of the party had at no time mandated the party to work for PDP or any other political party in Nigeria.
He said the party in the state is therefore not adopting PDP candidate under any guise as he declared that whoever has done so, did so at his own risk.
He said: “We call on members of the public to disregard the information because it is misleading and incorrect. Labour Party remains one and committed to Nigeria project. All our candidates are contesting for this Saturday elections. Our mandate is sancrosant and we’ll not negotiate.
“Basambo Abubakar has right of freedom of association but we remain resolute and committed to our ideology and we’ve not adopted any governorship candidate or aligned our forces with any political party in the state.”
