By Chinelo Obogo
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday, met with major stakeholders in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party prepares for its delegates’ congress today (Wednesday).
While addressing stakeholders at the party’s secretariat in Ikeja, Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said the stakes are very high and that ‘all hands must be on deck’ if the party is going to win the 2023 elections. He said this is not the time for rancour, insisting that the party must go into the elections as a united house in order to emerge victorious.
The committee set up to conduct congress to elect delegates that would vote at the presidential, governorship, national and state assembly primary arrived Lagos from Abuja on Tuesday evening and would conduct the congress on Wednesday.
Sawno-Olu said later in the day, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, National Assembly (Lagos representatives), Governing Advisory Council (GAC), Local Government chairmen and APC state executives would meet with the congress committee members to discuss and ensure a hitch free exercise.
He told the gathering that the focus of the party is not just on the state and National Assembly elections but that they need to work hard for the presidential primary.
Sanwo-Olu said that since the the special congresses and primaries remained a party affairs, it was important for party leaders and followers to monitor the guidelines, rules and regulations.
“We need to conduct ourselves to the rules and regulations of our party so that we will not run foul of anything. We in Lagos are always law abiding. We are party men and women who are faithful to our party and we will continue to uplift the collective interest of our party. Moreso now that we believe that God is looking at us in Lagos for bigger things.
“The responsibility is for all of us in Lagos. We must also live, work and dream the tenets of the party-the rules and the guidelines of the party. We know how we do it in Lagos and we must do it well, properly and without any rancor or disturbance. Let us go out there and conduct ourselves fairly and in an order which is worthy of emulation. There should not be any form of misunderstanding and misgivings because we have a bigger agenda,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Earlier on, the state party chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi said that no Local Government chairman is allowed to write directly to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying that all issues and enquiries must be addressed to the party. He also warned that any member found engaging in anti-party activities would be dealt with according to the constitution of the party.