… Urge governor to leverage Tunji-Ojo’s influence, popularity

… Knock Aiyedatiwa’s aide over derogatory remarks on party chieftains, Minister

The elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have stressed that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s appointment as coordinator of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the state is an assignment to unite all party stakeholders and not a coronation to exercise political supremacy over others.

The elders, under the aegis of the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum, stressed that the measure of success for the governor’s assignment would be the number of votes delivered to President Bola Tinubu in 2027, rather than what they described as declarations of political dominance.

During a press briefing in Oba-Ile, Akure North Local Council Area of Ondo State, the chairman of the forum, Demola Ijabiyi, while congratulating Aiyedatiwa on his appointment, stated that Tinubu’s re-election campaign must be bigger than the political differences among leaders and members of the party.

According to Ijabiyi, the governor bears the primary responsibility for reconciliation and unity within the party, adding that there are concerns that genuine reconciliation efforts have not been initiated with key stakeholders, particularly National Assembly members and a serving minister.

While frowning against a purported article written by an aide of the governor in which derogatory words were allegedly employed against chieftains of the party, the elders maintained that political communication is not a license for vulgarity.

Ijabiyi further stressed that with the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, being a prominent member of the Tinubu administration and an important political stakeholder in the state, his popularity should be harnessed as an asset for the party rather than feared.

“If the governor cannot invite the ministers and he cannot call the National Assembly members who are the stakeholders in this election, what are we going to do in his house? What are we going to be doing there? It’s a monthly crowd. We must get serious.

“Being serious means that we must know where to step ourselves; we must know where to move in the direction of the party. He is the leader of the party,” Ijabiyi stated.

He further expressed concern at the frequency of stakeholder meetings, noting that the governor had indicated that the council would meet quarterly, a move he described as insufficient in an election year, adding that meetings held in the past had been convened only once or twice annually.

Meanwhile, the elders, who tackled the stance of the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, on petroleum subsidy, described the proposal as frightening and urged Nigerians to reject it.

The forum noted that the federal government is undertaking important road projects connecting the state with other parts of the country and that the state is looking forward to the transformation of its coastal corridor through the proposed Olokola Free Trade Zone and deep-sea port development.