From Priscilla Ediare, Ado Ekiti
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State on Saturday re-elected Barr Paul Omotoso and Hon Sola Elesin as State Chairman and Deputy Chairman, respectively.
The duo’s election with 34 others was done through a consensus process.
This comes as State Governor Kayode Fayemi wished his successor should come from the party in the 2022 governorship election, saying the reality of same would be the greatest collective achievement of the party members.
Others who emerged as executives in the Congress supervised by 6-member National Congress Committee, chaired by Alhaji Yusuf Galambi are Segun Dipe (Publicity Secretary); Mrs Asinkun Sunday (Youth Leader); Mrs Mary Afuye (Women Leader); Barrister Wale Adeyeye (Legal Adviser); Hon Isaac Fayiba (Organising Secretary); Hon Omotayo Kolawole (Welfare Officer); Odekunle Raphael Bankoke (Vice Chairman, Central); and Biodun Fatile (Treasurer).
The list also includes Akindele Akinbobola( Vice Chairman, South) and Ayo Kolawole (Vice Chairman, North), among other executives that were elected at the congress.
All 36-member state executives emerged through voice votes.
Though the congress, which was held at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in Ado Ekiti, was observably peaceful and orderly, a group of pro-Tinubu loyalists called South West Agenda (SWAGA) for 2023 boycotted the process.
Prominent members of the group like Senators Dayo Adeyeye and Tony Adeniyi were conspicuously absent at the venue.
Governor Fayemi after the election urged the Omotoso-led state executive to work hard and unify the party ahead of the 2022 governorship poll slated for June 18.
‘In this congress, all the available positions were resolved consensually and this brought about this peace. That is what we are in Ekiti APC. We are about peace, unity and unanimity of purpose. I am happy that this goes without any disturbance.’ Fayemi said.
‘I appreciate the state and national congress committees for doing a good job.
‘The elected executive has a lot of work to do. The INEC has announced the date of our governorship election. Our prayers, determination and commitment should be that the next governor of this state will come from APC.
‘What we need to do is to work with our executives, so that we can provide all interested parties with a level playing grounds. Our prayer is that the primary will be peaceful and violent- free, just like we have witnessed today.’
Omotoso, in his acceptance speech, exuded confidence that the next governor that will succeed Fayemi will emerge from APC, saying: ‘Come 2022, Ekiti APC candidate will be succeeding Governor Fayemi.’
The chairman added that he felt highly honoured to have been returned to his position, expressing profound gratitude to Fayemi and all the delegates for reposing confidence in him.
‘We are given this mandate to serve our party. We are not going to let you down. We will do our best and ensure we don’t disappoint. We know that we have an enormity of tasks ahead of us. We will lead the party with utmost transparency, commitment, dedication and unity to take the party to the next level.
‘In 2019, APC contested elections and won all the seats. This time, we are prepared to win the next governorship election. We know the extent of confidence you reposed in us, we will not betray the confidence.
‘We will strive hard to pursue unification process and bring all our party members together as one big family,’ Omotoso said.