Ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo state, some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of Ondo APC Aborigines, on Friday, warned against the commercialisation of the party ticket.
The group stated this at the end of its meeting in Akure, Ondo state capital, and stressed the need for the party to pick a credible and right aspirant for the November 16, governorship election.
To this end, the APC Aborigines have set up a nine-man Committee to evaluate all the party’s governorship aspirants and pick a strong candidate that can win the election and will be a rallying point for members of the party.
A former Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Togo, Ambassador Sola Iji, who presided over the meeting of the APC Aborigines, said the step was taken to avoid a repeat of the past mistakes of the party.
Iji said the nine-man Committee, headed by Hon. Christy Olufowose, is to evaluate and present three aspirants for the APC Aborigines leaders to pick from and present for the election.
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According to Ambassador Iji, the party cannot afford to present strangers as the party flagbearer saying, what the Aborigines wanted is a government of the APC and not the government of strangers.
Iji said the meeting became necessary to enable the leaders to harmonise their interests, pool resources together so that they could choose the candidate of the party who would reflect their true yearnings and aspirations ahead of the election.
He said, “This is a meeting of the foundation members of APC in Ondo State. We refer to ourselves as Aborigines members of the party.
“We are bringing together leaders of the party. Some of us have been working hard for the growth of the party and we think it is time for us to retake our party.
“People have toiled to make the party what it is. The resources of the party should be of benefit to the members and not to strangers.
“We are taking back our party to make sure we produce a government of the people and for the people. That is the essence of this meeting.
“People have come from various local governments. We have appointed people who will take a look at the aspirants.
“We are not going to give the ticket to anybody who will not put the welfare of members of the party as a priority. We are not going to miss it this time.
“The candidate must recognise the owners of the party and not strangers. We will begin to assess those who are aspiring and we will make our choice known soonest.
“We want somebody committed and loyal to the party. We are correcting errors of the past. It was a disaster in the state. We are repossessing the party.”
Also speaking, Senator Ajayi Boroffice said loyalty to the party would be used to determine the aspirant to be supported by the group.
“Loyalty to the party should be considered. How long have you been in and out of the party? All those will be used to assess the aspirants.” he said
A leader of the party, Hon. Bola Ilori said the time was time for members of the party to fight commercialisation of the party and change the narrative.
“We are after the genuine interest of the party. This is an opportunity to change the narrative. We want to have a government we can talk to.” Ilori said
Some of the leaders of APC at the meeting include former Deputy Leader of the 9th Senate and three-term Senator, Professor Ajayi Borrofice; a former Commissioner and party Leader, Hon. Bola Ilori; former National Welfare Secretary of defunct ANPP, Hon. Yunusa Adeola; former Ondo North Senatorial Chairman of AC, Alhaji Isa Oloruntoba; former Ondo South Senatorial Chairman of ACN, Hon Wale Akintimehin
Others include former State Chairman of defunct CPC, Dr Femi Akingbola, pioneer State Secretary of APC, Lekan Obolo;
Hon. Raman Rotimi; Otunba Kelly Agboola; former State Women Leader of AD, Chief (Mrs) Grace Animola; former State Women Leader of ACN, Hon. ( Mrs) Kehinde Adeniran; former Deputy National Women Leader of defunct ANPP, Mrs Fagbamiye Abimbola; former Executive Chairman of Ese-Odo Local Government, Hon(Mrs) Folawe Sipasi-Aluko, former Commissioner for Regional Integration and Diaspora Relations, Prince Boye Ologbese, Chief (Mrs) Mosun Odukale and Dr Jide Owoka
Also at the meeting, were former State Executive Members and LG Party Chairmen including Hon. Jerome Olorunyolemi; Rotimi Agbede; Elder Eben Ogunrinde, Alhaji Rafiu Gbadeyan; Chief Abraham Adejimiroye; Hon. Ademulegun Adeala; Hon. Henry Olatuja; Hon. Olakunle Eko; Barrister Bisi Ayeni; , Hon Mohammed Enas; Alhaja Fausat Kazeem; Hon. Dayo Bello; Hon. Akin Tiewei; Engr. Kolawole Olusegun;Hon. Adeolu Igbede.
