- APC presidential campaign council for inauguration soon
- Governors to take preeminence
- Support groups to remain independent
By Banji Ayoola
A former envoy and the South-west Zonal Director General of the Asiwaju Tinubu/Shettima Coalition for Good Governance, (ATSCGG.), Ambassador Sola Iji, on Wednesday described the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC.), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the change that Nigerians have been waiting for.
In an exclusive interview with The Radiance in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the end of his maiden meeting with all the support groups in the state, he reeled out reasons why Nigerians should vote Tinubu as their next leader in the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.
On why Tinubu should be Nigeria’s next president, Iji said: “Asiwaju is a household name. He is known for that. He has done it in Lagos. He is doing it in Lagos and he wants to replicate it for the entire Country.
“He has the experience behind him. He has a record of achievements, a record of performance. He has the integrity to go along with. That is what he has to offer.
“And look at him. He went outside of his comfort zone to pick a running mate. Look at the calibre of the person that he has chosen. It means he is serious. It means he wants to deliver. If you look at what Senator Kashim Shettima has done in Borno and what he is still doing in Borno, you will see that there is seriousness.
“In fact you can compare the two; even though the periods are different, the achievements are similar. If you have such a team, what do you expect? – performance, achievements. Let me just put it.
“This is the change that we have been waiting for.”
On his plan to mobilise the entire Southwest behind Tinubu, Iji said: “This is what we have started here today. You can see the number of groups here; and you can see their resolve to even want to work for him.
“They trust him. They believe that he can achieve. That’s why they came and they would come back with the determination to work hard. That’s what we are doing.
“As we have finished here, we are moving to Ekiti. From Ekiti, we would go to Osun. From Osun, we would go to Oyo, from Oyo to Ogun, to Lagos. And we would come round again to see that all we have started is growing.
Ambassador Sola Iji
“People want Asiwaju because they know that he can perform; and those who want to work for him are determined to do so because they trust him that he would reward them.
“They trust that he would appreciate their efforts, and when he gets there he wont forget them. So that is the assurance that these people are having, and they say it on their own.”
Addressing the entire people of Ondo State especially, the former envoy said: “We have an opportunity to contribute to the election of the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In 2019, we lost the presidential election here; but in 2023, we are going to deliver. That is the assurance.
“We expect that the people of Ondo State, our party men and women even our citizens generally will support Asiwaju.
“We want to encourage them to vote for somebody who will open our industries, who would give us better opportunities to move away from being a civil service state to an industrial state.”
Earlier, Iji had met Tinubu support groups from across the state, saying the coalition was out to coordinate their activities as complement to the efforts of the party’s campaign council.
One of the halls on the first floor of Helena Hotel, venue of the event, which was filled to capacity, spilled over with attendees, many of who hanged around the veranda and staircase.
Impressed by the huge turnout at his first meeting with the support groups since his appointment, Iji said: “This is a coalition of the support groups. Some of you had been working prior to the primaries before Asiwaju was elected as our presidential candidate. Others form their groups after his emergence. But there is need to have a platform for the independent support groups to manifest their support for the candidate and his running mate.
“That is why theAsiwaju Tinubu/Shettima Coalition for Good Governance is recognized to play a major role and for us. We are privileged that the presidential candidate is from Southwest.
“That is why I believe that we have a lot of work to do to show significant support to work very hard so that at the end of the day when the party is campaigning through the party structure, our independent support groups should be able to complement those efforts.
“We are not taking over the responsibility of the party. We are not the party’s campaign council.
“Very shortly, the presidential campaign council would be inaugurated at the federal level to go down to the states. It would also have zonal structure. But when it comes to the state council, the party structure will take preeminence.
“We expect that the governor, being the leader of the party, would see to the inauguration and operation of the council in the whole state.
“Where the party is in government, the governor would take preeminence structuring the campaign council and its activities. But ours being an independent campaign structure means that we want to complement whatever the party is going to do. I want us to know this.
“Those of us who have formed our support groups must take into account that our effort is to complement that of the party. We are all members of the party.
“We cannot all be members of the campaign council. Those who are lucky to be there not because they are superior or because they are more committed to the party, but because all of us cannot be in the council all at the same time.
“The council members will still have to come out to work with us individually and as groups in order for us to achieve the ultimate objective which is to get our presidential candidate elected come February 25th, 2023.
“My assignment is to assist the support groups in this state because: Yoruba so wipe ile l’a ti nk’eso r’ode. Having been appointed as the Southwest DG to coordinate these activities, it is important for me to see to it that this coalition takes off very well and successfully in Ondo State.
“That is why we have invited all of you; and there is no way I can know all of us. As a matter of fact, there are very few support groups that I have internalized in terms of knowing their names and promoters or leaders.
“But today, while I was listening to the introduction, there were a lot of names I cannot even remember. There are so many of us here that we need to take an inventory.”
He said that the groups would be left to remain independent contrary to the belief that they would be dissolved into one central support group.
His words: “ In our coalition, what we intend and what we are doing is to encourage you to remain independent. Each support group has its territorial coverage. Some may be in one local government. If you can deliver your local government to the party, that is fantastic.
“Some may cover more than one local government. Some may cover a whole senatorial district. Some may cover the whole state; and some may even be part of the national movement in which case you are not only operating in Ondo State, you have other colleagues working in other states both in the Southwest and if possible in the entire country.
“So we should allow you to function to make your contribution in your respective territorial constituency so that in the event as we go along as we are working together, we can harmonise our strength.”
However he stressed the need for the groups to work together, saying: “If you function independently only as a group, you will go that far, but if we work together as a group, we would go farther than what would do when we operate individually.”
He said: “We can see the attendance here. I am impressed because truth must be told. I thought if we have the list of groups that were given to me, I thought we were exaggerating. But I can see that these are physical human beings, former speakers, former commissioners, former local government chairmen and party leaders in our respective right. So I think we are starting on a very good note.
“I want to convey to you the fraternal greetings from the Director General of the coalition who had encouraged us and given us the mandate to ensure that our Southwest sector of the coalition takes off effectively.
“And we are doing this to prepare ourselves for the take-off of the presidential campaign. What we are doing today would be replicated in Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos States respectively.
“I am sure that my other colleagues in the other geopolitical zones are also going about doing the same thing. I am sure and for us in Ondo State, I am going to carry with me this message. The impression that I had this morning is that we are getting set. And let me say this. We need working together very importantly.
“There are some groups who may believe that they have capacity or have direct access to our principal the candidate. That is not what we are looking for now. We all carry one vote each. That one vote is important. But one vote cannot take us there.
“We have to work together. So we need that collaboration and I can assure you on my own honour if I still remain part of this coalition and representing your interest. You can be rest assured that your rights and privileges whenever they come will get to you.
“I have not said that I have been given a message to tell you that anything is coming. The first thing to be done is what we are doing now. That is showing voluntarily that we want to work for the candidate.”
Urging the groups to make sacrifices and work to a logical conclusion to ensure that Tinubu wins, he described the APC presidential candidate as “a person who at any point in time is willing and ready to give reward.”
He said: “If you work for somebody and there is no reward, bi igba ti won n’se epe f’eeyan ni. Olorun ko ni i je ki tiwa ri be e o. ibi t’aa ba ti se, la a ti i je…Emi gba a l’adura pe ibi ti a nlo, ireti wa n’be.”
Describing Tinubu, Iji said: “The little that I know about Asiwaju, even though he has not lived here with us, he has invested in the politics of Ondo State tremendously. He has contributed to our elections severally. A lot of money had been injected into mooting the party here, and I am aware.
“Now that he is running to be president, now he is going to be our next president. Awon kan wa ti won je abara m’oore je. Olorun a je ki a pada leyin awon yen. A a mu wa lo s’ibi ti a ti maa ri eniyan ti ki i se abara m’oore je. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our message.”
He urged the groups to register themselves with the coalition which would align them with the campaign headquarters of the presidential campaign council. He added that after the leadership of the coalition is sorted out in the states, the groups would be monitored to ensure that they are working.
Iji said: “It is easy for me to stand up in a gathering like this and say that I am coordinating for XYZ. That is not what we are looking for now. The seriousness that we are attaching to it is that we are yearning for victory, for success. So don’t come here to deceive me. You can’t deceive me because oju ti ri. Don’t deceive yourselves. That is my admonition to you.
“So please let us take it serious. The executive of the coalition in the state has the responsibility to monitor all the groups that have made the claim that they are in existence. We would have your contacts to be able to reach out. They would call you later. My role is to lay a foundation for you to be able to take off and I think, somehow we have succeeded in this.”
Iji flanked by a former commissioner, Aljhaji Olanrewaju Kazeem, L, and a federal commissioner, Salaries and Wages Commission, (NSIWC.), in the Presidency, Onibudo Wole Iroaye
Reacting, a former Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Ayo Agbomuserin, who spoke on behalf of his group’s leader, also a former Speaker, Rt Hon Victor Afolabi Olabimtan, congratulated Iji “for this wondrous assignment to coordinate and supervise all the support groups for Asiwaju all over the Southwest.”
He said that he had been worrying about the necessary supervision of all the support groups “so that they don’t work against themselves at the campaign arena.”
Agbomuserin noted that “now that a good organization is coming on board to supervise and monitor them, that is very good for us.”
Also, the Southwest coordinator of Jagaban Vision Movement, Mr Ogunrotifa Richard said that the decision that the groups would not be collapsed into one body “is good.”
He said: “My advice to all the groups is that whatever is worth doing at all is worth dong well. We have a huge task ahead of us and we must do our best.”
In his own reaction, ex Okitipupa council chairman, Omoba Abayomi Adesanya said: “We need more support groups because the more, the merrier.. your Excellency, we know your capacity. Thank you for coming to rescue the support groups.”
Also, ex-Alliance for Democracy State Women Leader, Chief Mrs Grace Animola said that women “are going to work” assuring that “Ondo will be second to Lagos if Tinubu becomes President.”
On his own, a former commissioner in the administration of the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Alhaji Olanrewaju Kazeem, advised the groups to befriend themselves, assuring that: “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will be president of this country.
Giving the vote of thanks, a federal commissioner, Salaries and Wages Commission, (NSIWC.), in the Presidency, Onibudo ‘Wole Iroaye, said: “First and foremost, I want to say that I am highly impressed just like many of us here, about today’s event.
“The turnout is very impressive and we are happy for that. I also want to put it on record that the success recorded today could not have been possible without your presence.
“For this reason, I want to thank all of you on behalf of the DG, South West ATSCGG for your coming.
“I thank you for the numerous contributions you have made to this meeting. I pray that as you came here safely, so you go back home safely.”
In attendance were a former Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Rt Hon Ayo Agbomuserin; a former commissioner Alhaji Olanrewaju Kazeem; some members of the state’s assembly; the federal commissioner representing Southwest in the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC., Basorun Wale Oyewole; Hon Felemu; a commissioner, Hon Ife Iji; former council chairmen; former APC State Publicity Secretary and former Okitipupa council chairman, Omoba Abayomi Adesanya; and former Irele council chairman, Mr Nicholas Akinbiola.
There were Chief Balogun Arogunju; ex State Women Leader of Alliance for Democracy, Chief Mrs Grace Animola; Retired Captain Lasisi Ibrahim; Dr Segun Ayodele; Mr Olusola Adojutelegan; Mr Olusegun Akinrun; Mr Omowa Adekunle; Mrs Olagunju Yetunde; Dr Segun Ayodele; Barr Olorunnekan Oladele; Mr Omowa Akindele; Chief Taiwo Ologbosere; Mr Salaudeen Adeoye;, Mr Balogun Abraham Olu; Hon John Oluyefa; Pastor Joseph Makinwa; Mr Tayo Adu; Mr Tayo Adu; Hon Adesiyan; Elder Ogunrinde; Engnr Austin Pelemo; Mr Rotimi Agbede; and Mr Ogunrotifa Richard; among many others.
