By Banji Ayoola
The campaign of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State, will kick off in the first week of September.
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who is the party’s candidate in the election, disclosed this in Akure, the state capital on Sunday during the party’s stakeholders’ meeting.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is leading a 104 member campaign team of the party, is expected to flag off the campaign.
A report by The Hope said that the meeting was also attended by a former deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, APC governorship aspirants in the July governorship primary, elders and other chieftains of the party across the 18 local government areas of the state.
It said it was a culmination of the ongoing re-conciliatory efforts which began after the governorship primaries to unite the party’s stakeholders ahead of the October 10, governorship election, so as to record victory for the party and its governorship candidate at the poll.
Akeredolu told the meeting that touring of the 18 local governments would begin immediately after the August 28 local government poll, while governorship mega rally would hold few days before the October 10 poll.
He enjoined all stakeholders and leaders of the party to immediately return to their 203 wards statewide and work for the party ahead of the local government poll.
Also, he stressed the need for regular meetings across units, wards and local government levels.
He particularly expressed gratitude to his co-contestants in the July 20 primaries for embracing the reconciliatory efforts and choosing to work with him after the shadow election, noting that their magnanimity is responsible for the peace being enjoyed in the party.
He also stressed the importance of continuity of the party in government, assuring all stakeholders of inclusiveness in governance, and adding that the coming together of the stakeholders is a good thing.
He expressed confidence in the victory of the APC in the October governorship election, just as he appealed to all to work together in the interest of the party.
The governor who urged all the party faithful to work hard to ensure victory for all APC candidates in the forthcoming local government election in the state, said the election must be used to justify the popularity, strength and acceptability of APC in the state.
Akeredolu equally reeled out the scorecards of his administration across infrastructural deliveries, facilitation of various industrial hubs, reconstruction and remodeling of schools, reawakening of abandoned projects by the immediate past administration, giving premium to healthcare delivery, employment of citizens and giving priority to welfare of workers’ and pensioners in the state.
In an interview, Olanusi who described the meeting as a welcome development, equally advised those that might still be aggrieved to drop their anger and support the party for a successful outing in the October governorship election.
He specifically charged every member of the party to play his or her own role and support the party to coast home to victory.
Earlier, the party’s state chairman, Engineer Ade Adetimehin and a former South-West vice chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure who set the ball rolling said the presence of gladiators at the high level meeting emphasised the place of unity ahead of the October poll.
Adetimehin said the high point of the reconciliation is that APC would henceforth be one party with one structure and a common purpose for its members, without the existence of any form of groupings.
He stressed the need for all to put behind them all internal differences that existed before and after the party primary, saying that all hands must be on deck to achieve their collective aspirations of winning the October governorship election.
He enjoined all stakeholders to always explore the use of the party’s internal mechanism of crisis resolution in all matters in order to have a strong, cohesive, vibrant homogeneous and indivisible party capable of winning elections at all times.
The chairman saluted the altruism and courage of the former governorship aspirants for their timely resolve to salvage and protect the corporate interest of the party.
He said: “We are one, APC is my party, your party and our party. Akeredolu is my Governor, your governor and our Governor. Under the leadership of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, whose appellation is known as AKETI, all of us now belong to Aketi and Team APC.”
