Moshood Salvador, chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and close ally of the national leader and Presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, has defected to the Labour Party (LP).
Salvador, leader of the Conscience Forum, a political group in APC Lagos, was also the former chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos. He defected to the APC in 2018, after crisis engulfed the PDP in the state.
Speaking in a reception held by the Labour Party leadership to formally welcome him to the party on Wednesday at his residence in Surulere, Salvador declared that his decision to dump the APC was because of continued marginalisation of his group.
“Every politician wants to be recognised, myself and Conscience Forum members, we have moved to the Labour Party, that is where we are staying, we are no more in APC,” Salvador said.
He lamented that the APC refused to fulfil any of the agreements reached with his group before his defection to the party in 2018, stressing that his decision to move to the Labour Party was to enable members of his group realise their political ambition ahead of the 2023 general election.
According to him, “My interest in politics is about people’s welfare, it is about how people would eat and survive, that is why you see me in politics.
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“l am not the type that move from one party to another, but I left the PDP because they are not ready to win election in Lagos. The cancerous leaders created crisis and I am a man of winning; I am man of success.
“Moving to the Labour Party is because of circumstances, APC did not accept my people. We had looked for where my people can be accommodated. The agreements we had with them in 2018 were not fulfilled. Not even one.
“What would my members eat? It is normal human being that does politics. In the local government election, none of our members were allowed to hold position. Even at the ward level, they were victimised at the primaries.
“Also, at the state level none of our members were given opportunity to occupy any position.”
Speaking further, Salvador added that his decision to contest the governorship position in Lagos State was because of calls by the people of the state and his desire to serve humanity and contribute to the progress of the state and the country at large.
“All my people said I should go for governor, I am the one that collected the Labour Party form, filled and submitted to the national headquarters. We would work hard for the party to win in Lagos,” he said.
Also speaking, the deputy national chairman of the party, Lamidi Apanpan said Salvador was an experienced politician that would bring success to the party in next year’s general election.
He said the party would work with the present structure controlled by Salvador to win the state and dislodge the ruling party.
“Labour Party has accepted all the nominations presented by Salvador, we are sure that he has the structure that can win us Lagos State.
“The party would win Lagos State and we are sure of that. But you must be ready to work for it; it is not just to shout, you must be ready to work,” Apanpan said.
