The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has declared that passers-by will no longer emerge as candidates of the party for any elections.
Obi said this alluding to some federal and state lawmakers elected on the platform of the party but later decamped to the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Obi, speaking at the Labour Party National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, said the flag of the party must be given to only members for any election.
The former Anambra State Governor and business mogul hailed members of the party who had at one point or another, stood their grounds at the national assembly and remained faithful to the party that brought them to the position of power.
Peter Obi said, “We want to build a party that will be fair, a party that will be just, a party that people can look at and say, ‘this is how this party is’.
“We want to go into the next election knowing full well that we’re offering Nigerians the best of people and competent people for House of Assembly, for House of Reps, for Senate, for Governor, for any level of election.
“So we want to be ready. We want to correct even mistakes we made in the past, because there were mistakes. So we need to correct it. We are going to be sure that whoever wants to contest in the National Assembly now will be a Labour Party member, not on transit, not passer-by.
“We want to be sure that those who go to the House of Reps are not passers-by. They are members of our party, and they are competent, and they will stand with the party because want to be a party of ideology.
“Not a party where you just elect people and they become whatever goes on.
“I’ll thank those who stood at the time, even [when they are alone]. We must have senators who agree with us. That is what we want.
“Even if we go and fail, we’ll fail, but it is better to fail being right than you’re on the side of wrong. That is what we want, and we’re going to do that for Nigeria.”
