Labour Party on Sunday said it was not bothered by the defection of its Delta State governorship candidate in the 2015 general election, Chief Great Ogboru and his followers to the All Progressives Congress, saying “we wish him goodbye.”
The party also challenged the Presidency and APC to make known to the public how much has been recovered so far from persons indicted in the fight against corruption.
Chairman of LP in the Federal Capital Territory, Joseph Ndirang, tabled these demands in an interview with journalists in Abuja.
According to him, there were many policies the APC-led government which urgently needed to be addressed to rescue the dwindling economy.
He said, “We will not, cannot and must never miss Ogboru by anyway. If we did not miss Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, how can we miss Great Ogboru who has not become a governor? You see, in the political system, many people come and many people go.
“The Peoples Democratic Party lost five governors in 2014; the five governors went and connived and they formed APC. But PDP is still striving and waxing, they still have some governors. So, we don’t regret the exit of Great Ogboru. But like I said, our doors are open for Great Ogboru whenever he discovers that the party he has gone to is not better that LP by any standard and we are sure that he can come back if he wishes.”
The LP advised the government to plough back into the economy all the said recovered loots, saying the idea of going for loan to finance 2016 budget should be dropped immediately.
Ndirang said, “Well, the issue I have is that if truly government has recovered such huge money, I congratulate the government. But it should be ploughed back into the economy immediately so that the economy can be boosted because without the economy of a country being sufficient in food production, that country cannot be said to have developed. Development is about sufficiency because Nigerians are suffering.
“You see, there are policies this government need to look into critically and then if this money have been truly recovered, they need to be ploughed back to the economy. We don’t need to borrow because if you go and borrow, I am a grand father, I am looking at my grandson now with the eyes of pity because I know I’m going to leave this world and leave debt on him. Truly, people are suffering, let them plough back these money into the economy.
“All the money that have been refunded where are they? Why are we going to borrow money to run government and the budget of this year? If the money have been refunded where are they? Let them flood the streets. The banks are closing, workers are being thrown out of jobs, we are turning out half baked graduates and our educational system is in shambles.
“What are we really talking about? Look, nobody said government should not fight corruption, they should fight corruption; but it should not be at the expense of the act of governance which is the provision of security and welfare to the citizens, the primary responsibilities of any government.
“They should look at all these things, let’s fight corruption but look at the economy, insecurity, and other factors bothering on the welfare of Nigerians and social security. For over a year now, we are just fighting corruption, what about education, health and security? There is no social security programme in Nigeria, the only one they promised that they will give N5,000 to unemployed Nigerians, up till now it is still a mirage. So, what are we talking about and who are we deceiving?”
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