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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has renewed its call on all aggrieved members to bury their hatchet and join hands with other faithful to facilitate total victory for the party in the 2023 general elections.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Olawale Sadare, said it was imperative for the party to approach next year’s elections with a united front, as political parties are warming up for the commencement of electioneering in September ahead of the polls.
According to him, the forthcoming polls would improve the individual status of APC members as noble progressives and as heroic democrats when there is unity.
Daily Sun gathered that the APC in the state has had its fair share of party crisis in recent times, following internal bickerings, which greeted its congresses and primaries. Some gladiators and their members, who were dissatisfied with the outcomes of the exercises have either pulled out to join other political parties or chosen to stay away from core APC activities in protest, though the party has also received thousands of aggrieved members of other political parties into its fold.
Sadare, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on Tuesday, attributed all that happened in recent past to “inevitable reality of any democratic process, which would always produce mandate custodians on one hand and future winners on the other hand, since it is not possible for all athletes to emerge number one in any sprint or marathon race.
“As it stands, APC remains the property of all party faithful and we all have inalienable rights to call the progressive party our own, regardless of what might have happened in the past. It should be established here that no democratic process has ever been absolutely perfect anywhere in the world and it is on this note that we are appealing to all those who feel wronged in any way to put the experience behind them and forge ahead in their earlier resolve to collaborate with other patriots to build a better society, which we can all be proud of.
“Except for a few arrogant and naive players, who would do anything just to appear on the ballot, there is no genuine Oyo APC member who should be in any other party at an auspicious occasion like this, when Nigeria stands the best chance of having an ideal number one citizen in Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And since we are not prepared to forfeit this golden opportunity, the best is for us to queue behind him (Tinubu) in APC and thus increase the chances of mobilising overwhelming home support for the former governor of Lagos State.
“Also, we would like to state here that none of the gubernatorial aspirants of our party in the state was a misfit and it was an undeniable fact that the least qualified among them was better than Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) or any candidate being paraded by other political parties in the state. But it was only one person out many aspirants, that must emerge the party candidate. And to our delight, a seasoned politician and competent hand, Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin, was elected the gubernatorial candidate in an open atmosphere by accredited delegates and the rest is now history.
“Meanwhile, the task before us now is how to mobilise voters across the nooks and crannies of the state to do the right thing on the day of election by voting Senator Bola Tinubu, Senator Teslim Folarin as well as all other candidates of our dear party in 2023 for the goal of a more secure, enviable and prosperous pacesetter state and Nigeria to be realised. It is on this note that we urge everyone to come on board and be part of history as we remain optimistic that Oyo APC will record better victory than it did in 2015.”
In another development; the Chairman of the APC in the state, Isaac Omodewu, has assured that no member of the party would be denied his or her rights to motivation and patronage as a desirable way of compensating them for their services, loyalty and support to the party. According to him, the party was ready to improve on its reward system and also guarantee sense of pride to every loyal and hardworking member who deserves to be encouraged in all ramifications.
Omodewu stated this on Monday at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan State Secretariat of the party during the swearing-in ceremony of the state Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, who joined other state executive committee members few months after their official inauguration. The delay in Sadare showing up for inauguration was attributed to congress and party primary crisis which, according to reliable sources, have now been fully resolved.
