By Asaye Bankole
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has set a target of securing at least one million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
The target was announced on Saturday when Ondo State Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, inaugurated the APC Presidential Election Campaign Council, including its directorates and sub-committees.
Aiyedatiwa, who chairs the campaign council, urged party leaders and members to unite, strengthen grassroots mobilisation and work collectively to secure Tinubu’s re-election.
He described the inauguration as a strategic step towards the 2027 elections, stressing that unity and cooperation among party members would be crucial to electoral success.
The governor said the APC’s size and political influence would not guarantee victory without internal cohesion and effective mobilisation.
He recalled that the party’s ability to build alliances and maintain unity contributed to its emergence as Nigeria’s ruling party in 2015.
He urged members to work together, noting that retaining political power was important for protecting the interests of party members and their communities.
Aiyedatiwa directed the campaign council to base its activities on the achievements of the Tinubu administration and his government in Ondo State.
He listed regular payment of workers’ salaries, graduate training programmes, road and bridge construction, provision of medical equipment for public hospitals and health centres, school construction and support for educational institutions among the achievements of his administration.
The governor also praised Tinubu’s economic reforms and infrastructure projects, arguing that the President’s policies had provided the APC with issues to present to voters ahead of the election.
He cited the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as an example of the administration’s infrastructure initiatives, describing Tinubu as a leader willing to undertake major projects.
Aiyedatiwa said the inauguration followed a directive issued to APC leaders at the national level on October 14 to establish similar campaign structures in their respective states.
He charged members of the council to take the campaign to every part of Ondo State, engage residents and mobilise support for the President.
The Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami, also called on party members to intensify grassroots mobilisation to achieve the one-million-vote target.
Adelami said the target would require house-to-house and street-to-street campaigns, urging women, youths, elders and other groups to participate actively in the exercise.
He described Tinubu as a visionary leader who fulfils his promises and urged APC members to return to their constituencies to canvass support for his re-election.
Similarly, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, urged party leaders to work towards Tinubu’s re-election and victory for other APC candidates in the state.
Oladiji said the party should sustain its record of electoral victories by ensuring effective mobilisation across the state.
The Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council, Pius Akinyelure, expressed confidence that the APC would win convincingly in 2027, adding that the party could surpass the one-million-vote target.
In his welcome address, the Ondo APC Chairman, Kolawole Babatunde, said the campaign would focus on the achievements of the federal and state governments.
“Our campaign is going to be issue-based. We’ll be telling our people what we have done as a government,” Babatunde said.
He highlighted the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer programme and student loan scheme, alongside grants and scholarships available to students in Ondo State.
Babatunde also commended Aiyedatiwa for strengthening unity within the party and supporting its structures ahead of the elections.
In their goodwill messages, Senator Remi Okinrinboye, Chief Olusola Oke and Senator Tayo Alasoadura commended Tinubu’s economic reforms and expressed confidence that Ondo State residents would support his second-term bid.
They urged APC members to work towards securing at least one million votes for Tinubu and winning other elective positions in the state.
The Director-General of the campaign council, Victor Olabimtan, also called on party members to support Tinubu’s re-election, expressing confidence that Ondo State could surpass its previous vote total for the APC.
Other dignitaries at the inauguration included the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Fasoranti; former Deputy Governor, Omolade Oluwateru; Chairman of the APC Elders’ Forum, Nimbe Farukanmi; members of the state House of Assembly; former legislators; party chieftains; women and youth leaders; and members of the State Executive Council.
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