By Oladipo Airenakho
Benin City, Nigeria -The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress have thrown their weights behind Mr. Godwin Obaseki, candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC) in the September 28 gubernatorial election in Edo State, Nigeria.
The endorsement took place during a solidarity gathering to honor Governor Adams Oshiomhole at the New Era College, now Samuel Ogbemudia College in Benin City on Saturday.
At the event, the Chairman of Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun had this to say: “arising from the achievements of the Comrade Governor’s administration and coupled with the fact that he has done us proud being a man from our constituency, we are pleased that as he prepares to end his second tenure as the governor of Edo State, we need to assist him and give him all the necessary support to enable his legacies to be sustained.”
He called for the massive support of all the workers and working people in Edo State come 28th September 2016 by voting en masse for Godwin Obaseki.
“I don’t want us to return to the years of regrets. You know what we passed through then. It is on this note that we in the labor movement have resolved not to stay aloof.
“To our governor, we are very grateful to you for making us very proud and for your continuous support.
“We are here to appreciate his past performance in the governance of this state for almost eight years now. Edo State is the first state being the heartbeat of Nigeria to produce a labor as a Chief executive of any state in Nigeria. Before his ascension as Governor, labor leaders were only referred to as workers and not referred to as good managers.
“He has proved beyond reasonable doubt that labor leaders are the best managers in governance.”
According to him, a trip around the eighteen local government areas of the state shows a wider spread of people-oriented projects, executed and being executed by the government.
APC Governorship candidate, Mr. Obaseki who was elated with the labor movement’s support said he accepted full responsibility for the decisions made by the administration because he has been part and parcel of the Edo project from the beginning.
“My candidacy has offered me the opportunity to continue from where Comrade Oshiomhole will stop. I will continue to emphasize good and quality labor relations, and the payment of salaries which we have now come to take for granted will continue.
“I will spend more time on human capacity development to build a stronger civil service, without which we won’t be able to accomplish our goals and developmental agenda,” Obaseki assured.
He promised to devote resources to training and retraining of the workforce, including teachers and thanked the labor movement for the endorsement and promised that he would not disappoint them.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole on his part thanked the labor movement for the support they gave him in eight years.
He said the success of his government has given hope to others in the labor movement.
According to him, his government has computerized the pensions system such that retirees are now captured in the pensions payroll within a week after leaving the service.
Representative of the Ayuba Wabba-led faction of the NLC, Comrade Godwin Uche said Edo workers were lucky to have Governor Adams Oshiomhole as he has transformed the face of governance in the state.
He noted that eight years ago, only one airline was flying into the state, but with the increase in business and commerce in the state, more airlines now fly into the state daily.
He urged the workers to support Godwin Obaseki to continue with the good works that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has done.
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