…..Task Tinubu, Party’s National Chairman to intervene over bloody Ward Congress.
Following yesterday’s crisis rocking the Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the (PBAT) Mandate Elders Forum, Ondo state, has rejected the violent attack on the party’s state Chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin, calling on President Bola Ahmed TINUBU and the National leadership of the party to intervene over the bloody ward Congress in the state.
The Elders described the attack as a disgrace to the ruling party and a threat to internal democracy.
The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) Mandate Elders Forum in the state, at a world press briefing in Akure on Wednesday, said the assault on Adetimehin and other party leaders during a stakeholders’ meeting at the party’s secretariat signalled a dangerous descent into factional politics and lawlessness.
Speaking on behalf of the forum’s Chairman, Pa Erastus Akeju, the Forum’s Spokesman, Hon Demola Ijabiyi said the incident was a “humiliating spectacle” that undermined the moral authority of the party.
He warned that violence, intimidation, and public humiliation of party leaders could erode the foundation upon which the APC was built.
“Political disagreements must never degenerate into brigandage,” he said. “When dialogue gives way to force, it diminishes the integrity of the political process and plants seeds of long-term division.”
The elders maintained that the attack was not merely a personal affront to Adetimehin but a blow to the party’s collective image in the state and nationally.
According to the group, the APC’s strength lies in consultation, persuasion, and unity of purpose, not coercion. It cautioned against the crystallisation of factions within the party, stressing that such tendencies could jeopardise its broader national objectives.
“There is no justification for factional rivalry at a time when the party’s primary focus is consolidating support for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the forum said, urging members to subordinate personal ambitions to party unity.
The elders further argued that the desecration of the party secretariat — a symbol of order and authority — reflected a worrying decline in political culture.
“When respected leaders are attacked within their own party office, it signals a breakdown of discipline. Silence in such moments only emboldens impunity,” the statement read.
The forum called on Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as president and national leader of the APC, to deploy his moral authority to restore calm and enforce discipline in the Ondo chapter.
“We urge Mr. President to intervene decisively to ensure accountability and to reaffirm that violence can not and will not be a path to political relevance within our party,” the elders said.
They also pressed the party’s national leadership to institute an independent investigation into the incident and impose sanctions where necessary.
“Discipline must be firm, but it must also be fair. Justice that is swift and transparent will reassure members that the party remains guided by principle rather than power,” the forum chairman added.
