The governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, together with a few prominent members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the South West, have made the decision to support the party’s candidacy in the upcoming November gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
The National Working Committee and Zonal Working Committee members in the zone met strategically on Sunday in Lagos, with Sanwo-Olu, the APC’s Zonal Coordinator for the South-West, in attendance.
After the meeting, Sanwo-Olu made a commitment to uphold the obligation by collaborating with the team to bolster and realign the party in the South-West.
He said, “We are engaging in all the issues that we have in all our states and trying to bring all of us together. We are beginning to look at areas where we can indeed intervene as a zone, especially with critical stakeholders. We have identified students, youths, and people living with disabilities. We all have things we can do differently.
“We all have things from the South-West that we can continue to push into our national conversation to ensure that the stakeholders in the region are very focused and ensure that people feel the real dividends of democracy. And to generally put APC as the biggest party in Africa, the biggest party in the country, and to continue to remain the biggest party in the South-West.
“We have identified the places we need to work, and the work is continuous. We are working in Oyo State. We will continue to work in Osun State. We will continue to work in Ondo State. Ondo State has a unique issue because we have an election coming that affects all parties.
“There are candidates that have been thrown out; there are people who have aspired to be aspirants and will turn out to be candidates after the primary elections. We are all brothers and sisters; we will resolve all our issues in-house, and I want to assure you that APC will continue to remain the party of choice in Ondo State.”
Following the inaugural meeting, Governor Sanwo-Olu was endorsed by the national and zonal officials of the APC in the South-West, who said the governor’s nomination as zonal coordinator by the party’s national leadership was justifiable.
During their first meeting with Governor Sanwo-Olu, the APC national and zonal officers from the South-West gave the governor a letter of congratulations and expressed their support and allegiance to the Zonal Coordinator in his efforts to fortify and reposition the party in the South-West.
APC National Vice Chairman Isaac Kekemeke has announced plans to ensure harmony and reconciliation in all South-West states, particularly Oyo, Osun, and Ondo State, where the party will participate in a governorship election later this year.
The party will prioritize empowerment and engagement with students, youths, women, and persons with disabilities. The party will establish a zonal office in Ibadan and a liaison office in Lagos, with the zonal coordinator being the Governor of Lagos.
A South-West Assembly of the All Progressives Congress will be convened in early June. The forum will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders under Governor Sanwo-Olu to ensure their empowerment and productive engagement by the government of the federation and various South-West governments.
Among the APC national and zonal executive members from South-West who attended the meeting are; National Secretary, Senator Bashir Ajibola; National Youth Leader, Mr. Dayo Israel; Deputy National Auditor, Hon. Femi Egbedeyi; National Ex-Officio Member (South-West), Hon. Olubunmi Oriniowo; National Vice Chairman (South-West), Hon. Isaac Kekemeke; Zonal Secretary, Hon. Vincent Bewaji; Zonal Organising Secretary, Dr. Lateef Ibirogba; Zonal Publicity Secretary, Chief Ayo Afolabi; Zonal Woman Leader, Hon. Yetunde Adesanya; Zonal Leader of People Living with Disability, Comrade Moshood Erubami and APC Chairmen in South-West states, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi (Lagos), Chief Yemi Sanusi (Ogun), Chief Isaac Omodewu (Oyo), Sooko Tajudeen Lawal (Osun), Engr. Ade Adetimehin (Ondo) and Hon. Sola Elesin (Ekiti).
It would be recalled that the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, inaugurated and presented letters to six governors at the party headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, March 26, to coordinate party activities and reconcile aggrieved members of the party in each of the six geo-political zones.
The zonal coordinators are Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (South-West), Hope Uzordinma of Imo (South-East), Bassey Otu of Cross River (South-South), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara (North-Central), Mai Mala Buni of Yobe (North-East), and Uba Sani of Kaduna (North-West).