By Clifford Ndujihe & Ehis Osajie
Labour Party, LP Candidate for the January 6 Delta State governorship re-run polls, Olorogun Abel Edijala has promised Deltans innovative, purposeful and transparent leadership, if voted into power.

The two-time governorship flagbearer fancied his chances this time around saying that “Labour Party is more favourable to win this election.”

He spoke as the state chapter of party threw its weight behind the candidature of Dr Emmanuel Uguaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying that the former governor remained the best material among those contesting for the governorship of the state.

Delta LP Spokesman, Comrade Onosakponome Donaldson, told reporters in Lagos, weekend that the “Labour Party has decided to mobilise the people of Delta State to vote en masse for Dr Ewetan Emmanuel Udughan after making a critical assessment of all the candidates in the guber rerun. This is a critical point in the state and a decision has to be taken for the good governance of the state, moreso as the Labour Party has no candidate for the rerun.”

He said that “other candidates in the race cannot cope with the demands of the multi ethnic state as most of them cannot be regarded as role models, adding that the former governor has not only done well for the state but has been a labour- friendly governor.”

However, Edijala countered Donaldson. He said since he was the candidate of the party in 2007 and the election was a re-run, “I am the Labour Party flagbearer in the re-run election.”

Asked if he was comfortable with the January 6 date fixed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC given that the 2006 voters’ list to be used had not been displayed, Edijala said: “The electoral law does not permit the use of a new voters’ register for the re-run, so we rae bound by the old register. The January 6, 2011 is also within the Appeal Court ruling of 90 days for the conduct of the re-run. Nobody can fault INEC provided they have all the logistics in place to ensure there is no confusion on the election day. Rigging starts when voters are confused about where to cast their votes and people take advantage of such imminent confusion to snatch ballot boxes and manipulate election results.

“The voters’ register must be displayed before the date of the election for claims and objections. If that is done, we have no reason to cry foul but if it is not displayed, then, we can say that Prof (Attahiru) Jega will not be able to conduct a free and fair election even in the 2011 general election. So, the basic thing we expect from Jega is to display the voters’ register, more importantly because it was not displayed in 2007 and as such voters do not really know where to cast their votes.”

On his agenda for Delta, Edijala said that he had articulated a four-point plan for the development of the state. “First is the issue of industrialisation for purposeful employment. Unemployment rate in the state is about 95 per cent, while the civil service is made up of just 65,000 workers in relation to about four million people in the state, which is less than five per cent of the total population of the state. The other 95 per cent are in the informal sector where their means of livelihood is not guided by any rules…We are looking at a situation here we will attract industries in the agro-allied and cottage businesses across the state. By this we hope to take over 100,000 people out of the street within the first year of our administration.”