Zoning: Buhari will Guide APC on Way Forward, Says Abiodun

Deji Elumoye

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has given an assurance that President Muhammadu Buhari would give the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) the necessary guidance to achieve equity and justice in its zoning formula, ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for February.

Abiodun, who spoke with newsmen yesterday at the State House, Abuja, after leading Ogun leaders of thought on a thank-you visit to the President, expressed confidence that Buhari, as the leader of APC, would continue to provide the direction to move the party forward.

He said he was not in a position to advise the APC on zoning as a governor, noting however that the party is working on the formula, which he said, would be made known after the National Executive Council (NEC) would have met to approve the formula.

He said: “We have a President in place, we are the party that’s in government; our President is the leader of the party. I believe that His Excellency, Mr. President, will continue to offer us the guidance that’s required and will do that which we need to do under his leadership.

“I am not sure that I am capable, or have the capacity to begin to advise the party, when I am just a member of the party and a governor, and the party has a leader who is the President.

“We are aware that the party is working on zoning and when that is formalised and ratified by NEC, then it will be made public. So, we’ll know where the chairman of the party will come from, we’ll know where the President will come from and things will evolve in their own time”.

With Abiodun on the visit were former governor of the state, Aremo Olusegun Osoba; former deputy governor of the state, Mrs Salimot Badru; the Akarigbo of Remoland, and Chairman of Ogun State Council of Traditional Rulers, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi; and the Chairman of Rite Foods, Alhaji Sulaimon Adegunwa.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has described roads and housing estates he inaugurated recently in Ogun as “projects of outstanding quality”.

Speaking while playing host to Abiodun and his delegation, the President said the new roads would cut travel time considerably, lauding Abiodun for also working hard on security, and other projects that touch the lives of the people.
The President also appreciated Osoba, saying “we have known each other for a very long time.”

Abiodun assured that he would continue to make life abundant for the people of Ogun State, through adequate security and economic emancipation.