From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Ahead of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a former member of the House of Representatives, Adedapo Lam-Adesina, has advocated zoning of the position of national secretary, or national vice-chairman in the South West to Oyo State, with a view to positioning the party on the path of electoral victory in 2023.
The son of a former governor of the state from 1999 to 2003, Alhaji Lam Adesina, said if APC would be fair and just, the state deserves to produce one of the national leadership positions.
Though Lam-Adesina did not specifically mention the positions of national secretary or national vice-chairman in the zone, it was gathered that the two national positions available after zoning of other positions are the two mentioned earlier.
Lam-Adesina, who represented Ibadan North East/South East federal constituency between 2015 and 2019, made the disclosure in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, on Wednesday.
According to him, all the APC governors in the South West zone: Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), should team up and make sure Oyo, which is the only state without an APC administration, gets the slot.
‘With due respect to our leaders in the South West, I want to implore them to allow justice and fairness to prevail in the selection of those who will fill national leadership positions of our party during next Saturday’s convention,’ he stated.
‘When Ekiti didn’t have an APC governor, all the leaders unanimously zoned the party’s deputy national chairman (south) to the state. It was the highest position zoned to the South West. Also, Ondo, Ekiti’s neighbour got the national vice-chairmanship slot which should have gone to either Lagos/Ogun or Oyo/Osun zone.’
Lam-Adesina stated that a former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, was deputy national chairman while Chief Pius Akinyelure was national vice-chairman. He added that when Oni resigned, another former governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo replaced him, “despite the fact that APC had won the Ekiti governorship election in 2018. He stated further that “Chief Pius Akinyelure was replaced by his kinsman, Chief Kole Oluwajana.
‘I have taken time to remind us about all this in order to let our leaders see reason why Oyo should be allowed to take the highest position zoned to the South West. We are working on winning the 2023 election in Oyo and having a top position zoned to us will put us in good stead.
According to him, from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is National Leader of APC, to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; as well as Chief Bisi Akande, former National Chairman of APC; and Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; including all the APC governors in the South West, ‘we appeal that our state should be allowed to fill the position.’