By Emem Idio, Yenagoa

THE Bayelsa State Coordinator, Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, Comrade Alagoa Morris, has commended support groups in the state including the organised labour for their massive grassroots mobilization and sensitization for the Labour Party presidential candidate ahead of next year’s general elections.

He said he was elated with the selflessness and sacrifice of the support groups, noting that in spite of the challenges, the groups have been doing a lot in terms of setting up structures up to the polling units and encouraging the people of the state to go and pick up their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.

Morris made the commendation yesterday in Yenagoa, when he led some members of the Labour Party in the state and local government coordinators to meet with some support groups under the umbrella of Like Minds for Peter Obi ,LMPO, led by a retired Magistrate, Patricia Edoumekeme, who is also a member of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council ,PCC.

He said: “Two things have brought us together, the first one is bad governance and the second is the march towards bringing back Nigeria to the path of rectitude. I have followed the “Like Minds for Peter Obi” for quite a while and I have seen the type of indepth work you are doing at the grassroots.

“Like Minds for Peter Obi is one of the most active support group that we have and my coming here today is to commend you, encourage you to see how we can use this point to also encourage other support group in the state because we have a common enemy and a common goal and our common goal is getting into Aso Rock.

“We are looking forward to a new Nigeria and it is not going to come too easy and this is where the synergy for us to know ourselves, encourage ourselves, and work together and see how we can deliver our principal, Peter Obi come February next year.

“In spite of the challenges, you have been doing a lot in terms of setting up structures up to the polling units. You are encouraging Bayelsans and members to go and pick up their PVCs and also to be alert to ensure that identify fake registration. Self sacrifice, that is what we are doing. This is a very critical point that we are in the struggle.”

In her remarks, the State Coordinator of Like Minds For Peter Obi, Patricia Edoumekeme, who is also a member of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council ,PCC, described Peter Obi as a good brand who clearly understands the tasks ahead, adding that the country must get it right this time by ensuring that Obi emerges as President.

She said: “We are just putting in our best for a new Nigeria. We have been following Peter Obi’s antecedents right when he was Governor of Anambra State and we see Nigeria going down the drain we began to look for resources and our country cannot be going down so we have to look inwards and we spotted Peter Obi. We know that he is a good material for Nigeria. Nigeria needs Peter Obi and he is a good brand for the tasks at hand.”

In their separate remarks, the state Chairman of Trade Union Congress ,TUC, Comrade Laye Julius and his counterpart in the Nigeria Labour Congress ,NLC, Comrade Ndipre Ndiomu, said the organised labour are happy that they have a credible candidate on the platform of the Labour Party in the person of Peter Obi, describing him as labour friendly when he held sway as Governor of Anambra State.

Their words: “You are all aware that the Labour Party is the brainchild of the labour movement, that is the NLC and the TUC and the whole idea is to see how we can build a society where Nigerians will have a say where those who contribute to the economy can decide what goes on, where the right of the citizens will be respected.

“Even though labour leaders fought for the enthronement of democracy in this country, it is unfortunate that we are one of the victims. Peter Obi throughout his tenure in Anambra State he never owed workers. That is why when he came, we looked at him and we are happy that we have someone who is coming on our platform and is credible.”