Ondo APC plans 162-member reconciliation structure ahead of 2027

By Boye Oyeyemi

The Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has commenced moves to establish reconciliation committees across the state’s 18 local government areas to address internal grievances ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Chairman of the state APC Reconciliation Committee, Prince Biyi Poroye, disclosed this during an interactive meeting with local government party chairmen, council chairmen and other stakeholders. He said each local government would have a nine-member committee, bringing the proposed structure to 162 members.

According to Poroye, the grassroots committees would take the reconciliation process closer to party members, resolve lingering disagreements and promote unity, discipline and inclusiveness within the APC.

He stressed that the exercise was not limited to preparations for the 2027 elections, saying the committee also aimed to change members’ attitudes, rebuild trust and discourage factionalism and personal attacks.

Poroye said some of the grievances raised by party members centred on inadequate involvement in government activities, particularly empowerment programmes. He therefore urged political office holders and party leaders to ensure that party members were adequately carried along.

“We are shortchanging ourselves if we keep fighting one another,” Poroye said, while appealing to members to accept electoral setbacks without allowing them to create permanent divisions within the party.

In his address, the Chief of Staff to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Prince Segun Omojuwa, commended the initiative and described the governor as a champion of peace, saying the grassroots approach would create more opportunities for grievances to be addressed. Similarly, the Chairman of Idanre Local Government Area, Smart Omotadowa, said lasting unity could only be achieved if reconciliation reached members at the local level, urging them to work together and support the party’s candidates in 2027.

Also, a member of the reconciliation committee, Erelu Mudupola Martins, called for genuine reconciliation, warning that unresolved internal disputes could affect the party’s performance. She said the APC would seek to improve on its 2023 performance in the state, adding, “We gave Tinubu 68 per cent in 2023; we want to do more than that in 2027.”