The Labour Party (LP) has set up a committee to scrutinise all the presidential candidates for the 2015 general election and make recommendations on which of them to endorse by its leadership.

The party also said it had submitted the names of Chief Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo) Chief Great Ogboru (Delta) Ambassador Bagudu Hirse (Plateau) and others as its gubernatorial candidate in the 2015 election.

It said the decision not to field a presidential candidate was not an oversight, and therefore urged Nigerians not to make the mistakes of the past by voting for political parties whose policies and programmes are anti-masses.

The National Secretary of LP, Mr. Kayode Ajulo, in an interview with journalists at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in reaction to a report, said in Abuja that it was based on principle.

He said: “LP as at the close of submission of candidates to INEC did not field presidential candidate. This is not an oversight but part of our strategies and principles as a socialist and realist party. If we must field a presidential candidate, we must field the candidate to win and not to merely participate in the election as some parties are doing.

“Our conditions hinged on our principles and ideas must be met for anyone to be our presidential candidate, it is more of feasibility test of which those that approached us failed. As it is, what we would have done is to set up a committee that will scrutinise all the presidential candidates as presented by other political parties and make recommendations to the leadership of the party on the candidate to endorse.

“Certainly our voice will count in choosing the next President for Nigeria. We are the beautiful bride in Nigerian politics; we are being wooed by President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as other presidential hopefuls. As mentioned earlier, we will do the needful, we shall do the desirable, we are accountable to the people and we shall reflect their aspiration in our decision which will be made known at the appropriate time.”

While urging Nigerians not to vote for parties that are against the people, Ajulo said except the Nigerian masses rose up to the situation, politicians would continue to take them for granted.

“Elections are around the corner and politicians have come with fake promises and gift items to hoodwink the people. The Nigerian masses have what it takes to vote out such persons or their cohorts from power. Power belongs to the people and all over the world, when the people rise in unison to say ‘it is enough’, they change any government they want out”, he stated.

According to Ajulo half of the states in Nigeria owe workers, while many have still not implemented the minimum wage.

The legal practitioner regretted that most state governments owe workers salaries running into several months, while the governors are amassing the money for politicking in 2015.

He suggested that any governor whose tenure will end in 2015 must be made to pay all arrears owed to workers before their exit from office.

“These same governors know that since they are leaving, they have also devised means of foisting their cronies to take over leadership from them. This must be rejected in its totality,” he said.

Ajulo challenged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), their affiliates and civil rights groups to rise up to the issues and picket all states that are indebted to their workers.

“This is the time that the civil society groups should invoke the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act to get elected and appointed public officers to open their book for scrutiny. It is time to expose fraudulent public officers who may not be coming back after 2015 but believe they could get away with their loot”, he said.

He noted that the worst ill that could befall a nation is docile citizenry adding, “If Nigerians do not rise up to say no this time, then they have themselves to blame for their indecision.”