With cracks within the fold of the Ondo State Chapter of the
All Progressives Congress, APC, posing imminent danger for the party’s chances
in the 2020 governorship election in the state, National Leader of the party,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has urged the various aggrieved and warring groups to sheath
their swords.
The former Lagos State Governor made the plea on Tuesday’s
evening in Akure, the Ondo State capital, after a peace meeting which was
brokered by the APC leadership in the South-West.
Tinubu, who was accompanied to the state by the former Osun
State Governor, Bisi Akande who was also the former APC interim National
Chairman, stressed that political crisis is not strange to party politics but
it must be resolve in the overall interest of the party and the benefits of all
members.
While emphasising that the 2020 governorship election is
crucial for the party’s victory, he enjoined the aggrieved leaders and members
to close ranks and work towards the common goal of winning the election for the
party.
Tinubu, who spoke at the Dome, Alagbaka, Akure, shortly
after a closed door meeting with APC stalwarts in Ijapo area of the state
capital, said that, “We are leaving one thing behind. The charity that must
begin at home.
We want to win the next election in Ondo State and every
other elections. The solution is in your hands. We want to thank you for your
commitment to the party.
“We apply conflict resolution mechanism which is part of
politics to resolve any other problem and smoothen the edges.
“The next move is unity; talking together, consulting one
another and working together for the interests of our party and in particular
Ondo state.”
Also on the entourage of Tinubu, who was received at the
Akure Airport by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and his Ekiti State
counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, were the former governors of Ogun and Ekiti states,
Segun Osoba and Niyi Adebayo, alongside other chieftains of the party in the
South-West.
Prominent Ondo APC leaders at the meeting were: Ondo State
Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, state Chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin,
former chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, Olusola Oke, APC Board of Trustees, BoT
member, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, Segun Abraham among others.
Speaking with newsmen on what was discussed at the meeting,
Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun state, said the APC leaders had
resolved to mend the broken fences in APC in Ondo state and they have been
instructed to work together.
“We talked how we shall win next election resoundingly. You
see all our leaders coming out together laughing and happy. We have our leaders
in Ondo and we have told them to go and do their job and bring our party
together as one.
“We shall also keep encouraging our leaders in Ondo state to
do what we have agreed to which is unity at all level,” Akande said.
The former Chairman of the party in the state, Hon. Isaacs
Kekemeke, expressed satisfaction, saying all aggrieved members have agreed to
sit down and find solution to the party’s problem in the state.
“We have agreed that we will work together and we have
agreed to find a domestic solution to address our domestic problem.
“So in a short while we will be putting ourselves together
and proffer domestic solution to our domestic problem as motivated and
encouraged by our National leader.
“We have all agreed that we have offended ourselves and that
the better thing to do is to forgive ourselves and make comprise the way
forward and thee most important thing is to build a platform and move the party
forward.”
On his part, Chief Olusola Oke said the “leadership of the
party in the South-West met with us to foster peace and unity and we have
resolved on some fundamentals.
“We will meet again to pursue the fundamentals and when we
finally resolve, we will brief them.”
DAILY POST recalls that the Ondo State APC have been
enmeshed in series of crisis which started immediately after the party’s
governorship primary which saw to the emergence of various factions of the
party after some of the aspirants faulted the outcome of the primary.
Also the last general elections further polarized the
already divided ranks within the party after accusations of imposition of
candidates by the national leadership of the party and counter-accusations of
alleged anti-party activities of the governor and the state exco of the party.
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