The Labour Party (LP), in Ogun State has wooed the Convener of the Alternative Movement and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Otunba Segun Showunmi, urging him to contest the 2027 governorship election on its platform.
The leadership of the Labour Party, led by the state chairman, Oluwabukola Soyoye, made disclosed this during a visit to Showunmi at his residence in Ibara GRA, Abeokuta, on Friday.
Soyoye urged the former spokesperson to ex–Vice President Atiku Abubakar to join the Labour Party and fly its flag in the 2027 governorship race, adding that the state needs a new era of governance and Showunmi aligns with the party’s ideology and vision.
“We want you to come and join us in Labour Party, and to be our governorship candidate in the next election,” she said.
Responding, Showunmi commended Labour Party’s ideological stability and lauded former presidential candidate Peter Obi for galvanising the party’s growing popularity
He stated that Labour Party’s performance in the last presidential election, where it secured over six million votes compared to the ruling party’s eight million, demonstrated its growing influence and organic approach to politics.
Showunmi expressed his desire to contribute to the development of Ogun State, citing the state’s vast growth potential and the need to address key challenges.
The PDP chieftain thanked the Labour Party for the offer to contest the governorship and pledged to give it serious consideration.
“The governorship eligibility for 2027, with every sense of due respect, I have looked at the horizon, from the toughest to the least, I can’t find anybody who is more eminently qualified, more prepared, more intentional of policy of governance than me among them all.
“I have done only one thing, which is to wish, to work, to pray, to agonize that this Nigerian nation be a great nation that we can pass on to the next generation. I have not spared of myself, neither have I spared of the little resources that has come in my hand just to push it and keep pushing it,” he said.
He pointed the challenges facing Ogun State, especially poor road infrastructure, though he conceded that the incumbent governor has made measurable progress in road construction compared to previous administrations.
According to him, the major shortcoming of the current administration is its failure to fully harness Ogun State’s multiple growth poles, adding that the state requires leadership with a deeper understanding of its economic and developmental possibilities.
“I concede that there are critical challenging issues about the current governor’s approach to governance. One of them, is that it is a major source of embarrassment that Ogun state, our beloved state, is now the signpost of bad roads all over until people just break down in Angry rhetorics when they come to our state. But it does not mean he hasn’t done some roads. I tell you truthfully, he has done more kilometers of road than the previous ones.
“The challenges he did not fully commit himself to a deep understanding that Ogun state is a state that has growth poles everywhere.”
