Adebanjo Made Lagos Labour Party Stronghold- Abure

Lagos state has become one of the strongholds of the Labour Party, LP, according to the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure.

The LP chairman made this known on Tuesday when he paid a condolence visit to the late Afenifere Leader, Ayo Adebanjo in Lagos, who Abure credited for the political success achieved in the state during the 2027 general elections.

The party had created an upset and shattered pundits’ predictions by defeating the Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the state, placing LP candidate Peter Obi ahead in the election.

Tinubu, a former governor is the political godfather of the state, was at the time of the election APC National Leader.

Abure said the success achieved in the state could not have been possible without the support of Pa Adebanjo, one of the major backers of the LP presidential candidate.

The former Anambra state governor won many local governments in the state after polling  575,735 votes to defeat Tinubu who scored 573,001 votes, even though the votes were not enough to for him to win the presidential election, as the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC declared Tinubu the winner.

Obi came a distant third in the contested election, which LP still claims it won.

Abure, while tracing how the party achieved the milestones said Adebanjo helped in navigating the LP to victory, saying his elderly role and ‘several interventions’ led to the party’s ‘strong performance.’

Abure: “Recall that the Labour Party played a major role in the 2023 general elections. I can remember whenever a crisis came up, he (Adebanjo) would summon me to Lagos.

“We would discuss and reach amicable resolutions in those crises.

“Our strong performance in the last general elections can be credited to his several interventions. He navigated several of such cases, particularly in Lagos, and today, that state is one of the strongest bases of the party. I learnt a lot from Pa Adebanjo personally, that culture of resistance, defending what is right, defending democracy and the rule of law, I learnt it from him.

“I am happy that the struggle to enthrone democracy in Nigeria was achieved in his lifetime. Many of his contemporaries were not that lucky. He saw an unbroken democracy for close to 25 years, and he participated in it. We were able to identify and put together all our candidates from the presidential candidate down to the least position and the ruling oligarchy didn’t believe what they saw in the 2023 general elections.

“For the first time, we mobilised the youths of this country. For the first time, the youth of the country saw hope and they were living it. They envisioned themselves in it and we were able to achieve that change. Pa Adebanjo, as old as he was, led the struggle.”