Labour leader and General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, Comrade Isa Aremu has said that those decamping from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were butterfly politicians pursuing their personal ambition rather than the interest of the Nigerian people.
Aremu who formally declared his interest to contest the governorship seat in Kwara State on the platform of the Labour Party said that the statement by the Senate President that he was not given any juicy appointment out of the over 200 given by the federal government as one of the reasons for leaving the APC is a clear indication that he was pursuing personal interest.
He said those politicians crossing from one party to the other lack the required political ideology to be referred to as politicians, pointing out that during the second republic, politicians could not decamp from one party to the other without being ostracized.
He said what Kwara State need was not just electoral victory, but liberation, adding that despite being one of the oldest states in the country today, the stage has nothing to show and could not even successfully celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017 when other states like Kano, Lagos and Rivers did same with fanfare.
He said: “We will not be butterfly politicians, but politicians in the real sense of it. We are not going to be moonlight politicians who move from one place to the other. My idea is to transform Kwara.
“I read Senator Saraki’s statement and one of the reasons he gave foe decamping was that the federal government gave 200 juicy appointments during this dispensation he said the government gave Katsina, Lagos and others, but never gave him. He spoke about himself and not Kwara.
“You said the government gave Katsina and that is Katsina even though you might say it is nepotism, but he said he was not given and not the state. The constitution says anybody in office should talk about welfare and security of the people. We will promote personal ethics and dignity of Labour.
“We have watched the decampment of the big political actors in Kwara State to the PDP. They have a right to that Democratic decision in choosing what they want to do. But what is worrisome to me is the ease with which politicians have become so insensitive to the plight of others.
“First, you left a party. With all the challenges, some people sat down there to build the party when you moved on to another party. All of a sudden, you have returned to edge them out.
“If you can do that within a party that gives you an idea of how they run the polity. I am making a pronouncement here that under us, we will be real politicians in the line of the politicians of old, politicians who had principles.
“What is important is that there was once a Nigeria where moving from one party to the other was a shame. You could not have left NPN and Move to UPN because that was a period of ideas.
“NPN stood for building houses and they were actually building those houses whether the opposition loved it or not. UPN stood for free education for all. PRP stood for redemption of the poor and they did that. The late Waziri Ibrahim stood for what he called politics without bitterness and he stood by it. I am sure he will be alarmed in his grave now to realize that where he comes from is now a theatre of war and violence.
“We are coming out of that angle where we will never violate the rights of our people and Labour Party is the only way to go. The Labour Party is the only party that carry human beings in its logo. People should be at the Centre of democracy and the end of development.”
Speaking on while he was joining the governorship race, Aremu said “My state needs liberation, not just electoral victory because we are disappearing from the map. Our state was created in 1967by Gen. Yakubu Gowon and was Infact the first to be created. There are about four of the, now that still retain their identity. Lagos state, Rivers, Kano and Kwara states.
“Last year, Kwara state was fifty years old. Lagos state celebrated with fanfare with Governor Ambrose lunching signature projects. Rivers state also celebrated in a big way, the same thing with Kano state. But my state which used to be the gateway to the north and south marked that anniversary as if they were celebrating funeral.
“This is a state where the political leaders celebrate wedding of their children for almost two months. In sha allahu, under us, we will celebrate state hood every year with Kwara day and bring back the sisterhood of the old state which include Kogi and Niger.
“I was a member of the national conference; Kwara is the only state without any document in terms of its vision for the state and the country. Other states did that. Under my leadership, there will be voice for Kwara. We will return development back to our people. We will return commonwealth back to our people.
“It does not make sense that you take stage resources to service few Zimbabwean farmers who produce products that are not available on our menu. Kwara resources will be for Kwara farmers so that they can feed all of us very well. We will stop the elitist projects.
“How can you be talking of building an aviation college when your people cannot move on the road? Even at that, i5 is cheaper for our children to go and study in South Africa than to go to that aviation college. You don’t fly on the air when your people are using meme NAPEP and Okada.
“By the grace of God, Kwara under our leadership will be part of the unity of Nigeria. It will not be part of the obstacle to development. We will redefine politics, not in terms of juicy appointments.”