Ahead of the 2023 general election, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu, has urged the organised labour to support his presidential ambition saying he has better antecedents than the standard bearers of the other political parties.
Spokesman for the APC torch bearer, Mr. Tunde Rahman, said in a statement that Tinubu made the appeal during a town hall meeting with labour unions at Chida Hotel conference centre in Abuja yesterday.
The APC candidate said he was the most qualified of the presidential candidates to lead Nigeria, stressing that he has the track record of good governance.
He identified the problems of unemployment, lack of credit system to help workers own houses, poverty, challenges in the education sector, and weak industrial base as some of the things he was coming to address as President of Nigeria.
“Today, the questions you all must ask yourselves are these: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this? The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as vice-president is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?” Tinubu asked.
“Who has the better plan? The man whose blueprint guided the emergence of Lagos state as fifth largest economy in Africa or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in sand while his state’s infrastructure decayed and its workers suffered endless hardship?
“The choice is yours. But permit me to now talk a little about myself and my vision.
“I have always been and will continue to be a progressive democrat. In my worldview, government has a cardinal responsibility to work not only with business, but also with labour to ensure that all constituent parts of our society are afforded their fair share of rewards without taking on undue hardship,” he said.
Tinubu also said he and the organised labour have something in common – fighting for the good of all.
“As organised labour, you have been at the forefront of the workers’ rights movement in Nigeria, championing economic fairness and the welfare of the average person, the weak and the forgotten,” he said.
“You have also been involved in the struggle for democracy and political rights. Your collective efforts breathe life into the democratic rights and economic ideals enshrined in our constitution.
“I can speak fondly of your impact on our nation because of my personal history on the frontlines of the social justice movement.
“I may be running for president now, but I was not always in this position. Long before I started running for the presidency, I was running away from military dictators angered by my important role in protests against them and their efforts to vanquish our democratic aspirations.
“The defining moment of my public life came during Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and my membership in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) movement.
“I have dedicated my entire being to that cause. I was detained, then was forced into exile because of my refusal to accept anything less than a government based on the proposition that the will of the people is sovereign and should reign over armed might and imposition.
“I believe that those assembled here today share the same ideals of progressive and democratic good governance. I have spent my political life advocating for the rights and interests of ordinary Nigerians as you also do. We have long been fellow travellers on the same road. I hope that we shall continue as friends and brothers,” he said.
Earlier, the former deputy president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and director of labour directorate of the APC presidential campaign council, Mr. Isa Aremu, said the labour leaders, nay, Nigerians, have the choice to choose who among the presidential candidates is truly committed, tested and trusted to protect workers and the poor, and who is ready to industrialise the country to bring back decent jobs and good pay.
