BY AHMED AKANBI
The Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon Joshua Mammah, has promised mass local and foreign scholarships for FCT indigenes and a total ban on child hawking during school hours.
Mammah made the pledge during the inauguration of his campaign organisation in Abuja, where he vowed to focus on education as his cardinal programme.
He said if elected, no child in the FCT would have any reason to hawk items or roam the streets during school hours, warning that parents of out-of-school children would face arrest and prosecution.
“No child in FCT will be sent to learn carpentry; none of them will roam the streets during school hours. We are going to focus on education, education and education. If I see any child loitering around during school hours, the parents will be arrested and prosecuted,” Mammah declared.
The LP candidate, who has pledged to spend only one term of four years, said after his tenure, FCT indigenes would be studying in universities across Nigeria, China and other countries.
“After four years, we will have indigenes of FCT studying abroad and in the country; they will study in China and everywhere. No child in FCT will be sent to learn carpentry,” he said.
Mammah said his aspiration was a salvation mission, boasting that Labour Party would win the FCT and that rigging would not work. “We are going to win this election. Even if you’re a master rigger in Nigeria, you will not rig in FCT,” he said.
He also slammed career lawmakers seeking to return after 20 years in the National Assembly, saying: “If not for the rascality in the country, somebody who has served in the National Assembly for 20 years does not have any reason to come back. After my tenure for four years, I will not come back.”
He charged members of his campaign team to see the assignment as sacrifice, not money-making, urging them to manage meagre resources and deliver victory for the party.
Speaking at the event, LP House of Representatives candidate for AMAC/Bwari, Hon. Chimaobi Opara, said failed politicians have nothing new to offer, while Campaign Director General, Comrade Joseph Ways said the team would surpass the party’s 2023 performance and protect its votes in 2027.