WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
Ekiti State deputy-governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, has expressed confidence that the postponement of the general elections by one week will not stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) from winning the polls.
Egbeyemi urged party members not to be discouraged by a shift in the dates of the election, saying victory is sure for President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the general elections.
The deputy-governor, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Odunayo Ogunmola, spoke on Sunday during a meeting with APC members at his private residence in Ado-Ekiti.
He assured that the APC was poised for victory on the new dates announced by the electoral umpire, noting that the polls shift only delayed celebration of victory by its members.
Egbeyemi explained that the APC, as a law-abiding party, had campaigned vigorously across the length and breadth of Ekiti and Nigeria and was confident of achieving victory at the polls before the shift was announced.
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While noting that the postponement of the elections was painful, Egbeyemi described it as a price to pay for a long-awaited victory by the APC which he described as a party to beat at the polls.
The deputy-governor said party members in Ekiti State had sold the candidacy of President Buhari and other APC candidates to the electorate whom he said were waiting to speak with their votes.
Describing the polls shift as ‘blessing in disguise,’ Egbeyemi recalled that similar postponement in the 2011 and 2015 general elections resulted in overwhelming victories for the party.
Egbeyemi said: “I want to appeal to our teeming party members not to be discouraged by the sudden postponement of the elections by INEC.
“APC members should see the postponement as an opportunity to plan better, strategise better and work harder to ensure victory for our party on February 23 and March 9 just announced by INEC.
“I believe that our party, the APC, will coast home to victory on the new dates for the elections; the postponement will not stop our victory, it only delayed it by a week.”