• NADECO, Olubadan congratulate Tinubu over S’Court verdict

A former vice chancellor of Oduduwa University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Prof. Williams Olu-Aderounmu, has warned All Progressives Congress (APC) of potential consequences in fielding candidates with questionable backgrounds for future elections.

He urged the party to prioritise the emergence of persons with integrity, community acceptance, good educational qualifications, and positive track record.

Olu-Aderounmu gave the warning while delivering a public lecture with the theme, ‘Ondo State and Dynamics of Party Politics’, organised by Progressive Stakeholders of APC in Akure, Ondo State.

He said APC’s electoral prospects at all levels could be jeopardised if the party fails to undertake a thorough vetting process, adding that relying solely on financial resources may no longer clinch victory. “Unless good materials are selected and identified, whether they have money or not, APC will lose elections at all levels in the future,” he warned.

In his remark, the chairman of the Progressive Stakeholders and a former member of the House of Representatives, Afe Olowookere, said the theme of the lecture was carefully chosen to “provide compendious ground, through which issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and democratic values can be discussed.”

This came as the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) felicitated with President Bola Tinubu on his recent victory at the Supreme Court, which validated his election.

In a statement signed by Ayo Opadokun for NADECO, the coalition urged Tinubu to prioritise implementation of APC’s manifesto, particularly in Article 7, pages 3, 7, 29, 37, to return Nigeria to true democratic governance. It also insisted that the President revisit the report by a former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on restructuring.

Meanwhile, Olubadan of Ibadanland, Lekan Balogun, urged opposition political parties to shun actions and utterances that could distract the Tinubu administration from providing good governance.

In a statement by Personal Assistant (Media), Oladele Ogunsola, the monarch told the opposition: “You have all fought a good fight, and destiny has manifested concerning individuals concerned. This is time to see Nigeria as the ‘political party’ we all belong to and work towards winning all the battles being contested, such as insecurity, unemployment, hunger, hyperinflation, infrastructural deficit.”