The Vice Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Kashim Shettima has expressed satisfaction with the level of campaigns going on for the Presidential Standard Bearer and all the various candidates of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State stating that Oyo is ahead in the overall performance so far.
The chairman of the party in Oyo State, Honorable Isaac Omodewu who made the disclosure in Ibadan over the weekend said that the Presidential candidate conveyed the message to him at a national meeting of APC leaders in Abuja where Senator Shettima singled him out in commending the campaign activities of the party in the state so far.
Omodewu who spoke at the maiden meeting of the Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaign Council for Oyo State at the Oke Ado APC Secretariat told the campaign directors drawn from the 33 local government of the state that the Vice Presidential candidate referenced the mammoth Street walk sensitization campaign pioneered by the state chapter and the assurance of the State Coordinator for the APP Presidential Campaign for Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin that Oyo would deliver Ninety Five percent of total votes to APC in his commendations.
Oyo state was the first to organize street walks for the presidential candidate of the party and so far the party had done street walks in two senatorial districts. The state was also the first to cue into the projection of the Director of Contact and Mobilization for the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu /Kashim Shettima Presidential Council for South West, Alhaji Mutiu Are in his projection of a minimum of 95 percent votes for the APC candidate in the election in the region.
The Oyo State Campaign Council is headed by Dr Isiaka Olayinka Kolawole as Director General and Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe as Deputy Director General.
As a good leader, Mr. Omodewu maintained that the Vice Presidential candidate commended the party in Oyo State so that they could work harder and fulfill the promise already made to the country.
Omodewu, according to a release put out by the Director, Public Affairs for the APC Presidential Campaign for the state, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, therefore appealed to the campaign council leadership, directors and members to double their efforts and ensure that the state did not only maintain the lead but deliver 95 percent in the presidential election and see that all the candidates win in the general elections.
On his own, the chairman said he would do all within his power to equip the campaign council with all the tools and materials needed for the job and make the task simple in all aspects.
In his address, Dr. Isiaka Kolawole, Director General of the Oyo State APC Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaigns was confident that the All Progressives Congress, APC, will form the next government in Oyo State.
Ibadan Mogaji, who is Deputy Executive Secretary (Services) at the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, said: “The current administration in the state is tired. And it is just a pity that Governor Seyi Makinde has turned himself into a personal assistant to his colleague Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State. And if you listened to his budget speech or visit the governor’s personal website, you will see that he alluded to that fact.
He said he didn’t want to burden “the next administration with a budget they cannot work with or force them to embark on any projects that they may have no interest in pursuing.”
“We thank him for admitting that he is tired. Our candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, is prepared for the task ahead. PDP in Oyo state has declared they will vote for APC in the presidential election,” he added.
He went further; “After our inauguration, this is the first meeting we will be having. We can call this a maiden meeting. We have called this to charge us with our responsibilities. Whatever we do today will show what tomorrow will herald. We are all here because of ourselves and not because of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu or Senator Teslim Folarin.
“How do we do it? We need commitment and dedication. It was the commitments of those people that were mistaken to be that of occultic group in the past.
“Let’s go out to campaign for all candidates of our party. Since Oyo was created, we haven’t produced a three term senator and senate leader. He is a politician and not someone who would neglect you,” he explained.
He, however, clarified the issue of ticket snatching in the state chapter of the party, noting that it didn’t start now. Kolawole revealed that the party always considers the best candidates for each election, adding that Folarin didn’t snatch the ticket from anyone but his emergence was divine.
“They have been ‘snatching’ it from late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s time. In 1979, our late former governor Lamidi Adesina obtained an assembly form. It was when they got to Ikenne that Chief Awolowo changed it to a house of representatives’ ticket. Chief Awolowo had been following his columns in the Nigerian Tribune.
“In 2003, Sen. Peter Adeyemo was the incumbent senator. Late Lam-Adesina told me we will consider the late former governor Ajimobi. Ajimobi hadn’t joined our party then. We did primaries and Baba Lam ensured Ajimobi won. Without Baba Lam, Ajimobi wouldn’t have been able to do it.
“In 2019, was Oloye Adébáyọ̀ Adelabu part of us? Who got the ticket for him? It was the late Ajimobi that got it for him”
“In the case of Senator Teslim Folarin, it was God who assisted him. It was a keenly contested primary. He worked for it,” he explained
Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe, Deputy Director General of the campaign, said he was optimistic that APC has all it takes to win the next election in the state and Nigeria at large.
