The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it is taking the forthcoming Ekiti State governorship election with the same seriousness it is taking the 2019 Presidential election and will do everything possible to win the state.
Sen. Shuaibu Lawal, Deputy National Chairman (North) of the party, stated this on Thursday in Abuja, while inaugurating a 77-member National Campaign Council for the Ekiti state governorship poll slated for July 14.
Lawal, who stood in for the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, described the Ekiti election as:´´ a must win´´, but however, urged members of the council not to engage in hate speeches during the campaigns.
The governor of Kebbi, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, will serve as the chairman of the council, a total of 14 serving governors, serving senators, one Minister from each of the six geopolitical zones and other important personalities would serve as its members.
The governors include those of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kwara, Zamfara, Edo, Kogi, Jigawa, Plateau, Borno and Adamawa states.
Former governor of Ekiti state, Mr Segun Oni, Ministers of Defence, Interior, Power, Works and Housing, Transportation and Health and Ministers of State for Solid Minerals and Petroleum Ministry are also members of the council.
´´The number and quality of persons in the campaign council underscores the importance we attach on the election, in the exercise of your party’s authority in Ekiti state, you have to be civic.
´´We must try as much as possible to avoid the use of hate speeches during our campaigns, should any other party adopt that.
´´Our major concern will be to capture the state and end the four year comedy in Ekiti state, the election is very important to the APC, in fact, it is to us like the Presidential election,´´ Lawal said.
He added that the APC would not relent on its effort to win the state, saying that the council had the responsibility to ensure its victory at the election.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, who is the Deputy Chairman of the council while responding, expressed confidence that the APC must surmount the challenges posed by the state´s incumbent Governor, Ayodele Fayose.
He expressed appreciation to the party´s leadership for the opportunity to serve and the confidence reposed on the council´s members.
Akeredolu stressed that the Ekiti governorship election was important to all APC members, especially those in the South West, adding that wining the election was a task that must be done.
“Good enough that we have a number of veterans that have been to the battlefield and specialists on election matters, some have won while some didn’t, but we should be able to map out how we can win the election in Etiti state.
“For many reasons, we have faced lots of affronts as a party, challenges confronted us not only from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but from Ayodele Fayose who has thrown a lot of it at us.
´´We must be united to confront those challenges and anything outside that will mean that we are not serious as a political party.
´´I can assure you that we can give everything we have to ensure we win Ekiti state, this could be a second battle,´´ he stressed.
