Lagos council polls: Bode George drums support for PDP, LP alliance

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, on Wednesday, urged Lagos residents to vote for candidates presented under the party’s strategic alliance with the Labour Party in Saturday’s council polls.
George spoke at the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2, Lagos where he was received back from Abuja by PDP party faithful and supporters.
George, basking in the euphoria of the recent Supreme Court judgement which settled the national leadership tussle in the party in favour of the Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, said the PDP was strategising to perform excellently at the polls.
According to him, the party, using the alliance, looks forward to a victorious outing in the council polls, which will produce chairmen and councillors in the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas.
He said that the authentic and valid Executive in Lagos State recognised by the Caretaker Committee was the one led by Chief Moshood Salvador, his Deputy, Chief Ola Apena and the Secretary, Prince Muiz Dosunmu.
The chieftain said:”As part of our strategy of confronting the present challenges, we have decided here in Lagos to implement a PDP and Labour Party Alliance for this Saturday’s local government election.
” It is a necessary recourse which has been authorised and blessed by the National Caretaker Committee.
“My appeal now is to all our loyal members and all the electorate in Lagos State to please go out en masse and vote for our candidates under the Labour Party platform.
“This is the platform of truth and liberation. This is the platform that is people centered. This is the platform that cares about the weak, about the poor, about everyone else who wants a better and improved governance in our state of excellence.”
George said the ashes of rebellion had been swept away from the PDP, stressing that it was now maturing in  new strength and in new awareness.
“It is a wonderful time in the life of our great party. The PDP is back! Our long nightmare is over! The good Lord is on the side of the righteous. The truth is back on the saddle.
“We are ready for the Nigerian people. We are prepared to play the assertive role of responsible opposition. We are repositioning ourselves for the new challenges,” he said.
According to him, the July 12 judgement which overturned the Port Harcourt Appeal Court ruling has most significantly resuscitated the dying embers of the nation’s infant democracy.
He said: “For in this momentous judgment of the highest court in our land, there is a rebirth and a renewal.
“There is a strengthened rededication to the finest ethos of our democratic values. Yes, democracy works if we all obey the rules. Democracy triumphs when we all respect what is fair and just.
“In fact, in a larger sense, the Supreme Court judgment is not necessarily a narrow arbitration of intra-party differences.
“It is more. It is about the fundamental underpinning of all our democratic principles.
“It is about whether the legal provisions and the abiding constitutional document of a party can be indiscriminately abused and flung into the gutter merely to appease individual ambition.”