…… Inaugurates Tinubu’s Campaign Council, Committees
- …..Tinubu’s reforms will deliver Nigeria’s greatness, party leaders declare
Ondo State Governor, Hon Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, on Saturday inaugurated the state All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Election Campaign Council, directorates and sub-committees, charging members to unite and mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Aiyedatiwa, who chairs the campaign council, described the inauguration at the International Culture and Event Centre, The Dome, Akure, as a strategic step towards the general election.
He said unity and coalition-building, which brought the APC to power in 2015, remained crucial to its electoral success, warning that the party’s status as Nigeria’s and Africa’s largest political party would not guarantee victory without internal cohesion.
The governor said the elections would involve the President, senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors, except in three states, and members of state Houses of Assembly.
“As large or as big as we are, if we are not together, it will be difficult to win election. That is why it’s very, very important that we must remain united,” he said.
Recalling the APC’s formation in 2014, Aiyedatiwa said the alliance involving the New PDP, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Action Congress of Democrats (ACD) and other legacy parties enabled the progressives to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.
He cautioned that party members to learn from the divisions that produced factions within the PDP, warning that internal disagreements could jeopardise the APC’s chances, particularly in Ondo State.
He urged the campaign council to base its appeal on the achievements of the Tinubu administration and his government in Ondo State. “The President has made the job easy for us by those reforms,” he said.
On petrol subsidy removal, Aiyedatiwa recalled that all presidential candidates had promised during the 2023 election campaigns to scrap the subsidy. He said Tinubu had fulfilled the promise and was deploying the resulting savings to projects intended to benefit the majority of Nigerians.
Criticising politicians who had allegedly changed their positions on subsidy removal, the governor said the President’s reforms had enabled major development projects.
Citing the coastal highway, Aiyedatiwa said the project had been planned for years without any previous president daring to embark on it. He described Tinubu as a leader with the audacity, boldness, resources and confidence to undertake major projects.
On coastal erosion in Ondo State, Aiyedatiwa said his administration was working to tackle the Atlantic Ocean’s incursion, particularly in Ayetoro, where the persistent problem had affected the community and required federal intervention.
Expressing confidence in Tinubu’s support, he said, “We must tame the sea incursion at Ayetoro. And I know Mr President will help us to do that.”
Also speaking, the Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami, urged APC members to intensify grassroots mobilisation to secure one million votes for Tinubu in 2027.
He said the target depended on members’ commitment to reaching every household and community through house-to-house and street-to-street campaigns.
On his part, Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, urged APC leaders to work for Tinubu’s re-election, saying the state was known for winning elections and should sustain the record.
He called on party leaders and residents to return to their respective areas and work for a convincing victory. Oladiji said Aiyedatiwa had indicated his readiness to support them and expressed confidence that Ondo State would deliver for Tinubu in 2027.
Also, the Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council, Dr Pius Akinyelure, expressed confidence that the APC would win convincingly, saying the large turnout showed members’ readiness for the electoral contest.
“We shall win and win convincingly. We shall make more than a million votes that we are now talking about. God will be with us all,” he said.
In his welcome address, the APC State Chairman, Kolawole Babatunde, charged the campaign committees to reach every part of the state, engage residents and mobilise voters, expressing confidence that the party would achieve its target based on its performance at state and national levels.
“Our campaign is going to be issue-based. We’ll be telling our people what we have done as a government,” he said.
Babatunde said the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Aiyedatiwa’s administration shared a focus on public welfare, comparing the Conditional Cash Transfer programme and student loan scheme with grants and scholarships available to students in Ondo State.
The APC chairman said Aiyedatiwa was best placed to inaugurate the campaign council because he was not a candidate in the presidential election, unlike Tinubu, who had indicated he might not be best placed to perform the task.
Babatunde said the party leader had pledged continued commitment to the APC, particularly in supporting the governor’s victory and serving the party.
He urged him to liaise with the chairmen, co-chairmen and secretaries of the sub-committees and thanked those who attended despite the absence of some members.
In his goodwill message, From Ondo North Senatorial District, Senator Remi Okunrinboye, likened Tinubu’s economic reforms to surgery, saying the temporary pain would eventually give way to healing and greater strength.
He described the reforms as a step towards Nigeria’s greatness and expressed confidence in Tinubu’s re-election and the APC’s ability to secure one million votes in Ondo State.
On his part, Senator Tayo Alasoadura who spoke from Ondo Central Senatorial District, also urged APC leaders and members to work towards securing at least one million votes for Tinubu.
Expressing confidence in the party’s chances, he described the gathering as comprising some of the finest politicians in the state, irrespective of party affiliation.
Alasoadura said Aiyedatiwa had challenged the party to deliver at least one million votes and expressed confidence that the target would be achieved.
“Shouldn’t we improve on what we did the other time? I don’t think we need to talk too much. Let us go home and work. Let us give our governor all the support,” he said.
Also, from Ondo South, an APC Chieftain, Chief Olusola Oke, SAN, pledged to mobilise voters across the state to deliver one million votes for Tinubu in 2027.
Oke said the President deserved re-election, citing the appointment of three substantive ministers from Ondo State, improvements to federal roads and the ongoing coastal road project, which he said was expected to open up the state’s coastal resorts.
He challenged Tinubu’s critics to offer viable alternatives to Nigeria’s problems, describing the President’s leadership as transformative and maintaining that the country was on the right path.
“One million is our target. It is achievable. We are going to achieve it,” Oke said, adding that mobilisation would begin immediately.
In his acceptance speech, the Director-General of the Campaign Council, Hon Victor Olabimtan, praised Tinubu’s efforts to make the country a better place.
While appreciating Aiyedatiwa, Olabimtan urged party faithful to support and canvass for Tinubu’s re-election, saying Ondo State could surpass its previous vote total.
