…Refutes alleged ‘merger’ with PDP.

…Our S/Kaduna senatorial seat rigged.

by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna

Labour Party (LP) leadership has said it is under serious threats by opposition parties in Kaduna State. “These include threats to their lives and that of their supporters,” it stated.

The National Secretary of the party, Ibrahim Umaru Farouk, raised the alarm, while addressing journalists in Kaduna on Monday, on the state of preparedness for the 11th March 2023 election by their party.

Umaru Farouk, in company of the state party chairman, secretary, vice chairman and other top LP party members, vehemently refuted allegations making rounds that LP has collapsed to PDP for the Governorship and State Assembly election.

He said, “We enjoin and call on all LP supporters and our followers to come out enmass and vote during the Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections of Saturday, 11th march, 2023.

“We here in Kaduna have received a serious threat from opposition parties, beside the threat to our lives, lives of our supporters and party leaders. The threat that has also claimed the life of our women leader was not enough.

“And now, the opposition parties have renewed their onslaught on the LP in Kaduna State by spreading falsehood and calling on all Obidient supporters that the Labour Party and its Guber candidate, Mr. Jonathan Asake, have collapsed its structure to join the PDP. That information is a complete fallacy and falsehood and not true,” he said.

While he appreciated the good people of Kaduna State for coming out and voting for Labour Party during election of 25th February, he enjoined the party supporters to do same in the next Saturday 11th March election.

“We rejoin you and call on everybody to come out and vote during 11th March election, and assure you that your votes must count.

“We have seen areas where you have been disenfranchised both by the system and conniving attitude of some of the opposition party members, and that we’ve seriously taken care of it, and want to assure you that LP is going to guard against all these seriously during the 11th March election. 

“Votes by our people must be counted and, by the Grace of God, Labour Party candidate will emerge victorious. The lies and insinuations and all the campaign of calumny that have been going on and being spread by officials of PDP will not take them anywhere. 

“We are steadfast, and assure our supporters that we are going to reclaim our mandate and liberate the people of Kaduna State through the ballots. We’re going to make it clear that our Guber candidate, Hon. Jonathan Asake, is the only candidate that’s very clean, very ready and well qualified to be the Governor of Kaduna State. 

“Kaduna State has had series of religious crisis, which have been instigated by politicians. Asake’s candidature is the one that will bring peace, unity and harmony to Kaduna State, and sincerity of purpose, progress and collective interest of the state. So, we call on all the state residents to come out emnass to vote LP Gubernatorial candidate and State Assembly members,” he stated.

He also noted thus: “You see, we are out to win election, but seen as nobody – as underdog – but later became somebody and being forced to reckon with; we gave them a big surprises. So, we believe in ourselves and believe we will win the election. 

“Those who want to join hands and forces with us, who have the same ideology of LP, can join with us to win the election and salvage the country from the shackles of the hardships, insecurity, hunger, starvation and all sorts.

“Our doors are open for political parties, who wish to collaborate with us to support LP candidate to win and salvage the country and provide the younger people a purposeful leadership; and we are going to carry them along. Some have already met with us and already collapsed their structures and joined us and are going to work for us,” Ibrahim Umaru Farouk stated.

He, therefore, called on supporters to guard their votes at poling units by collecting all evidences of rigging, adding, “This people are not going to leave us alone; they are going to continue their onslaught on us to ensure they rig the election. 

“If they rig, we want to gather enough evidences to prove that the election has been rigged, and at the end, court will declare us winner.

“In southern Kaduna, it’s very clear that our senatorial candidate won the election but was rigged-out; and we are following it step-by-step to ensure that he reclaims the mandate and the mandate of the LP.

“Since, the campaign members and leadership of the LP have been on attacks by known and unknown elements. And these have been reported to security agencies severally, in which some of them have been taken care of. Our women leader was killed in Kaduna, our members killed in Imo, Enugu States and other places,” he lamented.