AHEAD of the 2023 Presidential election, workers, professionals, students, youths and other concerned Nigerians, under the aegis of Peter Obi Volunteers Electioneering Team, POVET, have begun mobilizing no fewer than 1 million volunteers to canvass votes across the grassroots in every nook and cranny of Nigeria for the Labour Party, LP, Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
Vanguard reports that this development was the fallout of the recent meeting of Mr Obi with the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, at the Labour House, Abuja.
A statement by National Coordinator and National Secretary of POVET, Abubakar Yakub and Echezona Asuzu, respectively, “the coming of Mr Peter Obi to the Labour House signifies the understanding that it is the Nigerian workers, the youth and the long-oppressed people of Nigeria that will make all the difference in the 2023 general election.
This intent is already manifesting in the recent unprecedented surge by millions of Nigerians all over the country to get their Permanent Voters Card, PVC. The ongoing PVC Revolution already signals that the ballot pendulum would swing ‘OBIdiently’ to usher in the new Nigeria of our dreams.
“Our commitment in POVET is to add value to the collective aspiration of the New Nigeria of our dreams by mobilizing at least 1 million Volunteers who would canvass at the grassroots in every nook and cranny of Nigeria for the election of Mr Peter Obi as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria comes 29th May 2023. We, therefore, call on all Nigerians to endeavour to register for their PVCs, collect their PVCs, safeguard their PVCs and use their PVCs very ‘OBIdiently’ on election day.”
Among others, the statement said “History was made on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, as the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, visited the Labour House. Peter Obi was received by the President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, and the leadership of the Congress. Thousands of Peter Obi Volunteers Electioneering Team, POVET, members in branded T-shirts, Face caps and banners were on the ground to welcome their beloved, cherished and adored Presidential Candidate, HE Peter Obi.
“The coming of Mr Peter Obi to the Labour House is significant in a number of ways. First, the visit signifies a major shift in Nigeria’s political landscape. This is the first time that Organized Labour in Nigeria is throwing its weight behind a Presidential Candidate in the run-up to a general election in Nigeria.
“The resolve by the leadership of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, to support Peter Obi’s candidature is in tandem with the long-term drive by Nigeria’s labour movement to be more visible in the political space in Nigeria.
Given the chronic failure of successive governments in Nigeria to meet the basic governance aspirations of citizens, especially since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999, Nigerian workers have decided to move from street activism to electoral activism as a way of actualizing many of the industrial, economic and social demands they have been making on government.
“The coming of Peter Obi to the Labour House establishes the fact that Peter Obi’s presidential candidature is a pan Nigerian project. Organized Labour being the most prominent and enduring pan-Nigerian organization remains the most consistent emblem of national unity, solidarity and development. This makes the statement that Mr Peter Obi is a symbol of national unity, solidarity and development.
“When Peter Obi talks about moving the country from Sharing to Production formula, he is talking about one of the things that unify us – Decent Jobs. When Peter Obi asks Nigerians to identify with the Social Democracy ideology of the Labour Party, it is about the critical foundations that unite every Nigerian – effective investment in public schools; public healthcare; and social protection for all.
When Peter Obi talks about upgrading our physical infrastructure, he is talking about electricity, roads, waterways and railways that we all use. Nigerians understand that any other form of “national unity” is an agenda of deceit, divide-and-rule and plundering of the commonwealth.
“Peter Obi’s visit to the Labour House resonates with the desire by most Nigerians for a New Nigeria where there is law and order, where every Nigerian feels secure, where there are equal opportunities for all and where life is in abundance. This dream of Nigeria has been the pursuit of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the reason the NLC has for decades been at the forefront of the struggle against the incessant increases in petrol price, insecurity, electoral brigandage, economic deprivation, slave wages, hunger, and oppressive industrial cum social policies.
The partnership between Mr Peter Obi and labour especially as midwifed under the illustrious leadership of Wabba, his TUC counterpart and the current national leadership of the LP led by Julius Abure represents a very strong statement in the collective desire to reclaim Nigeria and recover her destiny as the lighthouse of the black race.
