Ondo Guber: Ganduje Seeks Assembly’s Cooperation for Free, Fair Primary Election

•State lawmakers drum support for Aiyedatiwa

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, has sought the cooperation of members of the Ondo State House of Assembly ahead of the governorship primary election scheduled for April 25.

Ganduje made the plea yesterday in Abuja when the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Olamide Oladiji,led 12 other lawmakers to the national secretariat of the party.

According to him, “You were here in your numbers because of an important issue pertaining to peace and stability of Ondo State.

“When the late Governor of Ondo State was very sick and there was political turbulence in the state, we are so happy that we waded into that and also Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was so kind enough to devote his time to see that that problem was resolved amicably.”

Ganduje said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party was not surprised that the lawmakers came to thank them for the role they played during the political crisis in the state.

He added: “I want to call upon you, very soon you know your government is an off-season as far as is election is concerned. This year, there will be election for governorship in Ondo State and there are many things that must happen according to the programme.

“We started with verification of party membership, then it will lead to screening of aspirants and of course, there will be primaries among the aspirants so that we can come up with a candidate for our party.

“Ondo State is an APC state and we will continue to maintain it as an APC state. We need your cooperation so that we can have a free and transparent primaries in the state.

“So that we can shore up our opportunity and believe our members are equal to the task with good synergy between the party and your institution as members of the State House of Assembly.”

The chairman assured them that the party had prepared a well-articulated programme for the primary in the state in order to produce a candidate.

Earlier, Oladiji, who said the lawmakers were in support of continuity of an APC-led government in the state, appreciated the President and Ganduje for their timely intervention in the political crisis that erupted in the State a few months ago.

“We are here also to tell him (Tinubu) that as far as we are concerned, those of us around amongst our members and those that are on their way that we are fully in support of continuity of APC-led government.

“We are in support of continuity. We want APC to continue with the governments of Ondo State. We believe it will work out and we are giving them 100 per cent assurance that the primary elections will be peaceful,” he said.