Ondo APC elders express displeasure over conduct of ward congress
By Boye Oyeyemi –
Elders under the auspices of the PBAT Mandate Elders Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have expressed displeasure over the just-concluded ward congress of the party in the state.
Speaking at the February edition of the forum’s meeting on Wednesday in Akure, the facilitator of the forum, Hon. Demola Ijabiyi, said the congress had exposed subtle divisions within the party. Ijabiyi accused the state governor of not aligning with the directive of the party’s national secretariat to return the current executive members through consensus.
“We are basically here to advance the cause of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election and, therefore, anything that can affect it or has a bearing on it, we have to address it. That means we cannot ignore what happened in our ward congress, where we had parallel congresses in most of the wards.
“We have already written a memo to Mr President on what should be done. We have been briefed that we expect the President to address the situation in Ondo State so as not to create a permanent division within the party. But right now, that is what the ward congress has created — division.
“We are not happy. We are disheartened because the congress was organised and implemented without the input of elders. Those used by the governor for the congresses were his aides, commissioners, special assistants and others.
“It is like imposing those people on us as leaders. But the matter has been brought before the President, who is the national leader of our party, and we believe he will take action. We are very confident that he will act on that memo,” he stated.
According to him, there was no visible division in the party before the congress, only rumours of a rift between the state governor and the Minister of Interior, Dr Bunmi Tunji-Ojo.
He added that elders in the party at the state level were not aware of any dispute between the duo, as both had consistently denied any disagreement.
