The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Honourable Ade Adetimehin, on Monday, assured that the outcome of the party’s primary in the state would make the party stronger, stable and united.
Adetimehin, who stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting with the aspirants of the party in Akure, the state capital, dismissed the fears that the primary might lead to internal crisis, promising that APC will remain united.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu will be proud of the outcome of the election and the candidate to be picked by the party at the end of the exercise.
He said: “We cannot afford to fail or send wrong signals from the President’s political base to other political actors in other geopolitical zones by not getting our acts right during the exercise.”
Specifically addressing the aspirants who attended the stakeholders meeting,, including Honourable Gbenga Edema, Soji Ehinlanwo and Collins Oladunjoye and representatives of other aspirants, he urged them not to burn down the house they have built.
He said the party had settled for a direct mode of primary to pick its candidate for the November governorship election in the state.
“You will recall that our Party has adopted the Direct mode in the conduct of the 25th April, 2024 gubernatorial primary election for the first time in the history of such previous elections held by it in our state.
“Pursuant to the above, we owe it as a great responsibility on our part to Intimate you with the guidelines as released by the National Working Committee,” the chairman said.
Adetimehin said the APC state secretariat had asked the “Local Government Chairmen to forward the venues of the election, which had been sent to the National Working Committee accordingly” in fulfillment of the party’s constitution.
He added that the “greatest challenge before us is the need to keep a united front for the Party before and after the forthcoming primary election.
“Let me assure you that the State Working Committee and the State Executive Committee under my leadership will do our utmost to fulfill our responsibilities in spite of any kind of challenges to ensure we provide a level playing ground for a free, fair, credible and smooth primary election.
“We will also ensure that due process is followed in all Party decisions and we shall abide by all extant laws, rules, guidelines as provided by the National Working Committee with a view to enable Party members to vote the best candidate of their choice.
“At this juncture, let me warm that the Party will not tolerate any form of acrimony, violence, thuggery, name calling, hate-speeches, destruction of bill boards (which are supposed to promote not only the aspirant, but more importantly the Party) and disruption of meetings or any form of unproductive dichotomy.
“Let me inform you that a Disciplinary Committee would be put in place, where all infractions would be looked into in line with the party’s Constitution”.
He appreciated the quality of gubernatorial aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket in the forthcoming primary election, saying APC aspirants represent the best materials the state can ever have, comprising of individuals with great knowledge and wisdom, experiences, exposures, extensive political network and notable achievements in their chosen career.
“We must leverage on this amazing human capital that we have to pick any of them, to clinch the ticket and take the party to victory during the Saturday, November 16, 2024 governorship election.
“We have a big task ahead; our journey as a party in the past seven years has not been without trials and tribulations, but it is in our resolve in overcoming these challenges that we discover our true strength.
“Towards this end, all hands must be on deck to achieve our collective aspiration of getting the best candidate to secure the party’s ticket during the primary election and win in the November 16, 2024 governorship election; this, no doubt, is the real need of the time and should therefore be our greatest common interest for now.
“Let us all engage in actions that will propel our Party to a great victory through a hitch-free primary election. By so doing, we would ensure the preservation of progressive ideals in governance and up the graph of democratic governance in our State.
“We must be mindful of the fact that we have no other Party to call our own; we are members of the same party, bonded by one umbilical cord; APC is our Party, APC is your Party, APC is my party.
“Let’s work together as one family and we will sit down to resolve it. It is always good to fight the system within the system,” he urged.
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