A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Ekiti State and senatorial aspirant for the 2019 general elections, Mr Olusegun Osinkolu, has described the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the indisputable leader of the party in the Southwest.
Osinkolu, who also hailed the Ogun State Governor, Mr. Ibikunle Amosun for
his public declaration that he is not the leader of the party in the region, added that, “Tinubu’s records speak for him as the leader of the party and his leadership remains undivided and incontestable. ” The APC Chieftain, who has declared his intention to represent Ekiti North senatorial district in 2019, appealed to party members in the state to refrain from incendiary comments that could portray the APC as being polarized, saying what should be the priority now is unity and mass mobilisation drive to fortify the party.
The party leader also told President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint more party members from Ekiti into his cabinet , saying the delay in the appointment was adversely affecting the party’s mobilization drives. Osinkolu spoke in his Ayede Ekiti country home on Monday during an APC
stakeholders’ meeting he convened to mark the Christmas festivity and to discuss the future of the party ahead of the 2018 governorship poll. Discussing the seeming leadership tussle among party leaders in the region, Osinkolu said: “People like me worked for President Buhari in the 2015 election because of Tinubu . I have never met the president in my life.
“Leadership is earned and not given. Tinubu’s roles had earned him the leadership position. Our people must stop this leadership tussle because it won’t take us anywhere. President Buhari and Tinubu are one and those who are trying to cause friction between them have failed”, he said.
Osinkolu appealed to Chief John Oyegun –led National Working Committee of the party to foster internal democracy in APC and ensure that credible primaries are conducted into all elective positions in the future elections.
On the recession affecting the country, Osinkolu said: “The situation is worrisome but we plead with Nigerians to be patient with us. The APC has the capacity and capability to bring Nigeria out of this situation. But we can only get out of it when we are united as a people and not through criticisms”.
The State Chairman of the party, Mrs Kemi Olaleye and former Speaker
of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon Femi Bamisile, described Osinkolu as a loyal and unique politician, who has been playing tremendous role to unify the party. “Convening this kind of meeting to rub minds with party top hierarchy shows that he has the love of the party at heart. He has shown that he is a leader with a strong character that can unite the party and make other leaders to be more responsible and responsive to the plights of other less-privileged members,” they said.
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