National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Abdullahi Adamu has expressed the confidence that the party will retain Osun state in the coming governorship election and also win the 2023 presidential election as well as others.
The election, slated for July 16th, will be coming up about a month after the APC coasted home to victory in Ekiti governorship election.
Speaking Thursday in Abuja during the inauguration of the National Campaign Council for the state, Adamu said Nigerians chose APC, assuring his leadership would do everything possible to retain it.
The 86-member campaign council is headed by Lagos state Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and co-chaired by Kano state Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Some other members of the committee include Senator Godswill Akpabio, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Jason Sirika, among others.
According to Adamu, the plan to win and the ability to execute the plan squarely rests with the leadership of the campaign team, saying this would be brought to bear on their assignment.
“There’s no option to winning the national election and these state elections are like I said, forebears to the national election.
“We must show those who love us by showing those who are our adversaries in the strongest possible way that we are in control.
“No apologies to anybody, we are the party of government, we are the party ruling the country today, no apologies for anybody.
“The reality is Nigerians chose APC and we will do everything we can to retain this position of envy,” Adamu said.
While urging the campaign council to show commitment, the APC national chairman said: “We are winning the battle of the states, but the real war to be won is the presidential election in 2023. And I do hope that we will not spare efforts to ensure that we come back victorious.”
Ganduje preaches reconciliation
Responding after the inauguration, Governor Ganduje, the co-chairman of the campaign team, called for a total reconciliation in Osun state before the election.
He said: “Reconciliation is totally necessary so that we will believe in each other. We agreed that all stakeholders in Osun state will come together and constitute into one single force in order to win this important election.
“I am happy the secretary of our great party is from Osun state and I think he is very useful to this election in Osun state.
“Some of us who participated in the last election that brought the current governor into office, we knew the interplay of variables that took place, and that led us to a new terminology in election, inconclusive election.”
Ganduje, however, assured the party of his commitment, saying “I believe the stakeholders in Osun state will add value to their preparedness and ensure that the 30 LGAs in Osun state leadership were ready for this election.
“We will take the previous events and unify it and see how things stood at that time and what variables that went in-between the election and now, and see how we can compete for success because this is our efforts to our party.”