A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of Labour Party (LP) for the September 21, 2024 election in Edo State, has given an assurance that he will ensure good governance and prioritise the welfare of Edo residents, if elected.
Akpata spoke at Edo state secretariat of LP in Benin, the state capital, during his formal declaration to vie for governorship next year.
The immediate president of NBA, who is an indigene of Benin in Edo South Senatorial District, will be slugging it out on LP’s platform for the governorship ticket, with a philanthropic industrialist, Kenneth Imansuangbon, popularly referred to as Riceman, who hails from Ewohimi in Edo Central senatorial district, and recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other aspirants.
Akpata noted that he decided to aspire on LP’s platform, because it was the only people-oriented party in Nigeria, and that his interest was for the people of Edo state.
He stated that Edo residents had been taken out of the equation in governance and politics, while assuring that if given the opportunity to fly the flag of LP in next year’s election, he would change the narrative.
The ex-president of NBA said,
“My interest is for the people of Edo State. What I find in politics and governance in Nigeria today is that the people have been taken out of the equation. Nobody cares about the people.
“When I look around, the only party I find to be people oriented and to be interested in the lots of our people is LP. So, I have come to express my interest, and to carry the people along.”
The lawyer turned politician also gave an assurance that he would take LP in Edo to greater heights, upon his emergence as the standard bearer of the opposition party.
Edo Chairman of LP, Kelly Ogbaloi, who received Akpata, in company with other members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party, assured the former president of NBA and other governorship aspirants of a level-playing ground.
Ogbaloi also expressed optimism that LP’s eventual governorship candidate in Edo would succeed PDP’s Governor Godwin Obaseki on November 12 next year, for Edo residents to enjoy the real dividends of democracy.