Leaders and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State have declared their solidarity with governorship aspirant, Mr..Akeem Agbaje, with the group adopting the position that “No Agbaje, No Progressives” ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

The group, under the aegis of the Oyo State APC Central Progressives Conference of Living Progressive Leaders, also reiterated its support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promising to mobilise massive votes for him in the 2027 presidential election while urging the APC leadership to address lingering grievances within the party.

Agbaje is one of the governorship aspirants in Oyo State.

The declaration was made on Thursday at the Akinremi Jagaban Hall, Ibadan, during a conference attended by APC leaders and supporters sympathetic to Agbaje’s political aspiration.

The meeting came amid lingering disagreements within the Oyo APC over the party’s governorship primary and subsequent reconciliation efforts involving aggrieved aspirants.

Addressing the gathering, Akeem Agbaje said the conference was organised to reaffirm the position of progressive leaders who, according to him, had continued to support his political aspiration and to draw attention to what he described as attempts to weaken the progressive tendency within the party.

He thanked the leaders for standing by him and urged them not to remain silent over developments within the party.

Agbaje said, “We thank our progressive leadeprs present here who gave me the go-ahead and told us they are behind us. You are the ones we met doing progressive politics, and we thank God you are still present till date.

“We are here for three major reasons. The first reason is that they want to erase progressives, and God will not make it possible. What we can see today is that they chose what they want as if we don’t have elders and leaders in the party.”

The governorship aspirant expressed concern that what he described as the emergence of leaders and decisions without adequate consultation with established party stakeholders could further divide the APC.

According to him, some party members were already considering leaving the APC for the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), warning that continued silence could worsen the situation.

“Everyone knows that Oyo State is a progressive party, so they are wishing all manners of things to make sure progressives are scattered. Even yesterday, I heard they have just selected another leader for us who just joined the party recently. That makes me scared.

“This means we must not be silent again. If we remain silent, they will destroy the party. Some are already leaving and going to the APM,” he said.

Agbaje, who said he was contesting for the Oyo governorship ticket on the APC platform for the third time, also questioned the process through which the party’s candidate emerged.

He recalled that aspirants were initially informed that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) would announce the candidate, but said subsequent developments had generated controversy.

“When we started the primaries, they told us that the NWC would announce the candidate for us. Today, if some people say they are the candidate of the party, we know that they are lying,” Agbaje said.

He expressed confidence that the dispute would eventually be resolved and that the person he described as deserving of the ticket would emerge.

“Everything will end soon and the winner and the person that deserves it will be named. By God’s grace, I will be named. We are not bothered by their threats,” he added.

Agbaje, however, drew a distinction between his disagreement over the party’s internal processes and his support for Tinubu, saying his political differences within the Oyo APC should not be interpreted as opposition to the President.

He recalled the support given to Tinubu by Oyo voters in the 2023 presidential election and said his supporters would work for another strong showing for the President in 2027.

“We gave Bola Tinubu the highest vote in 2023 and we will do that again in 2027. But all these behaviours will not let us get to where we got to in 2023,” he said.

Also speaking, an APC leader in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Chief Bello Adeleke Onaolapo Oladeji, popularly known as Baba BAO, urged party members to avoid actions that could further deepen the crisis within the party.

Oladeji, a prominent APC elder in Ibadan North, said the party should protect its progressive political tradition by ensuring that grievances among its members were properly addressed.

Another APC chieftain, Chief Kunle Sanda, declared his support for Agbaje and said the group’s backing for the aspirant did not diminish its loyalty to Tinubu.

Sanda said the progressive elders supporting Agbaje were also committed to the President’s 2027 ambition.

He appealed to supporters not to defect from the APC because of their grievances, urging them to remain within the party and work towards resolving the disagreements.

“I am a supporter of Akeem and I am happy anyone here. We are behind him and we are also here to assure President Tinubu for 2027 that progressive elders behind Agbaje are behind Tinubu,” Sanda said.

Sanda also urged aggrieved members to remain loyal to the APC rather than abandon the party, stressing that there was still work to be done to resolve the disagreements.

He said, “I beg the supporters not to go back or dump the party for another party. Stay loyal to Tinubu and Agbaje. There is still a lot of things to do.

“I am begging the annoyed people. Progressives must not be spoilt on your behalf. We are relying on you, Akeem.”