Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has said he will lead the governorship campaign of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) across the state, today.
Amosun made this known in a statement signed by Wole Elegbede, the publicity secretary of the dissolved Derin Adebiyi-led state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The governor said he would be all out to seek support from the people of the state for his preferred candidate.
He was quoted in the statement to have said: “I’m campaigning full blast for my candidate and our candidate in Ogun State, Adekunle Akinlade, and all our assembly candidates.”
Elegbede said the resolve of Amosun to campaign for Akinlade was in tandem with the support given by APM to President Muhammadu Buhari in last Saturday’s election.
He said: “Since the APM in Ogun State had adopted president Buhari and fulfilled the promise to vote for the president, it is only fair to reciprocate the gesture.”
He said all APC and APM supporters in Ogun State will combine their votes to ensure victory for the APM candidates.
But, in a swift reaction, the Publicity Secretary of Ogun APC Caretaker Committee, Tunde Oladunjoye, said Amosun, who is billed to lead the APM campaign, would have suffered terrible defeat in his senatorial election if not for the intervention of former governor Olusegun Osoba and party stalwarts in Ogun Central senatorial district.
Oladunjoye, in a statement, in Abeokuta, argued that the APM performed poorly in the last presidential and National Assembly elections, despite huge money expended by the party.
“We have cause to thank the people of Ogun State for voting massively for president Buhari and other APC candidates, as shown in the final results. We must also thank the people of Ogun Central Senatorial District, who, as good party loyalists, listened to the call of our foremost leader, Aremo Osoba, who pleaded for people not to disgrace Amosun.
“A close look at the figures from Ogun central showed that but for APC, Amosun would have lost woefully, as even his touted APM members cast a vote of 10,038 against the governor, who was the combined candidate of APC and APM.
“In fact, APM made the poorest outing despite the billions of Ogun tax payers’ money expensed by Amosun on the moribund project, as the party scored just about seven percent of the total votes in Amosun’s senatorial district, and less than five percent across the state. The only House of Representatives seat won by APM was where a police officer was shot dead by hoodlums.
“Our findings showed that contrary to what Amosun would want us to believe, APM members, especially in Ogun East senatorial district, actually worked against president Buhari. They were openly telling voters that they were not concerned about Buhari’s re-election, but we thank God for the voters who stood their grounds and voted for Buhari and APC.
“Our findings also revealed the use of serving commissioners and other appointees of Amosun, to harass voters and intimidate the electoral officers.
“We also noticed slowness on the part of those in charge of the elections and the various degrees of malfunctioning card readers, and lack of thorough understanding by some youth corps members deployed for the elections.
“As we march on for the governorship and House of Assembly elections slated for March 9, we call on the people of Ogun State to vote for APC,” he said in the statement.