For some reasons, the Labour party is gaining wide acceptability in Abia especially in notable places like Aba, Umuahia, Bende and even the villages.
What spiked this popularity was the entry of first class Economist and Banker, Dr Alex Otti and Presidential hopeful and rave of the moment, Mr Peter Obi.
For that same reason, the logo of the Labour party which is a wheel with a man and woman with a child engraved in the centre, placed at the centre of the flag, has become a symbol for people to display.
If you travel to the South East now you will discover that some youths even fly the flag of the party on the streets to show they belong to the winning party.
This shows that the flag of the party which is red and green, both equal in size, placed vertically, with Red representing transformation and Green agriculture is becoming quite notable unlike before.
It is not hard to detect why Labour Party is accepted in Abia. Dr Alex Otti is the moving spirit behind it.
Among all the parties contesting for election in Abia, Labour Party is the only party that identifies with the common man.
Many people have argued that the reason why PDP failed in Abia is because the party is not designed for the common people but for the big men. This is why for three decades of dominating the state, it has nothing to offer to the people.
Again Dr Otti’s manifesto is very practicable and easy to identify with unlike some that you know are pure deception designed to swindle people of their votes only to be thrown into the trash can after the elections.
Dr Otti’s victory speech after winning the ticket of the Labour captures the major focus of his manifesto. Making his victory speech after emerging the governorship candidate, Otti said he would earn salary as governor but would rather donate it to humanitarian and developmental causes for the benefit of the less privileged people in the state.
He promised to reduce the cost of governance to free funds for development of the state.
He assured that he has the capacity to move the state from the era of bad governance to prosperity and solicited the support of the people of the state to ensure that Labour Party wins the governorship election.
He promised to pay off the arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities owed in the state as well as pursue industrialization, quality education, agricultural policies to reduce rural –urban migration.
He told the people, “You have started a movement which no cabal can stop. We are the party the majority of people who deserves good leadership in the state are looking for. The symbol of our party is human beings, I therefore urge to join me as we work hard to win the 2023 governorship election and make life easier for our people.
“We shall move in with courage to upset the backlog of unpaid salaries, stop insecurity, bad roads and poor health care delivery because we have all takes to make a difference. “We will activate industrialization in the state to move our people to prosperity, through education, agriculture policies and reduce rural urban migration”.
Built on the ideology of social democracy, the Labour party aims to promote and defend social democratic principles and ideals for the purpose of achieving social justice, progress and unity.
Picture: Dr Alex Otti
