Kunle Adelabu
-Assure them of victory at the October poll
Prominent political leaders, who are former Parliamentarians at the National and State Assemblies, have described the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the forthcoming Lagos East Senatorial bye- election, held in Igbogbo on Thursday, September 3, 2020, as peaceful and commended party members for their cooperation.
THE IMPACT covered the exercise at the Ward C1 which took place at the open space beside the Methodist Primary School, Igbogbo,
The accreditation process started at 9. 30am with 350 party members accredited and voted through voice affirmation to overwhelmingly approve the sole aspirant, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, as the APC candidate for the Lagos East Senatorial bye-election slated for October 31, 2020.
Sen. Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former Senator who was at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003 and former Minister for Works, described the process as peaceful while commending party members for their cooperation.
He also acknowledged the electoral officers for arriving in good time and conducting the exercise within the scheduled time.
“It was very peaceful and everyone cooperated. We commend our people for this. The presiding officers came very early and we finished early too”, Sen. Ogunlewe said.
He charged the ruling party to be strategic and put in place thorough planning in order to win the bye-election.
“We still have a very long way to go. We have to do a lot of strategic planning to do well in the election.
“There are a lot of things that we want in Lagos and Abiru will have to work with other Senators and members of the House of Representatives to achieve the Lagos agenda. It is our responsibility to give them information and necessary advice”, the former Minister said.
He opined that the opposition should be encouraged to participate so as to make the election competitive.
“We wish them (PDP) best of luck. It is an open field. Let them campaign and prove their strength in the field. Let us encourage them to participate, campaign and reach out to people so that there will be a competitive election.
Former Member, Lagos State House of Assembly and former acting Commissioner, Tourism and Special Adviser, Arts and Culture, Hon. Adebimpe Akinsola also described the exercise as peaceful and progressive conduct.
“It was very successful and well organized. As you can see, our party, All Progressives Congress (APC) is progressing in everything and we do everything in line with due process and in accordance with the law. Even though we have a consensus, we still followed the due process”, she said.
“It is lawful going by the constitution of Nigeria that you must do primary election and despite the fact that we only have one aspirant, we are gathered here today to conduct the primary election. It is a process to prove that people love the candidate that is going to represent them and that is what we have witnessed here today”, the former State lawmaker explained.
She stated that the bye – election is going to be a walk – over for the APC candidate whom she described as the best candidate for the job.
“The bye – election is going to be a walk – over for our party. I am optimistic about that. We are going to work assiduously to ensure that our party’s candidate emerge victorious come October 31.
“Abiru has the carriage, charisma to represent our people. He is an experienced person who has been around for long even though, he is a silent person. He is the best candidate that we know. He has been tested and he is trusted”, she said.
Hon Gbenga Oshin, former Member, Lagos State House of Asembly who also voted at the Ward C1 polling unit, said that the ruling party has 99.9% chances to win the bye-election.
“The primary election was splendid and beautiful and I thank our people for conducting themselves very well.
“I also want to thank the leaders of our great party for giving us what we crave for by giving us one of us, Abiru who is very competent and reserved”, he said thankfully.
“APC is going to have 99.9 chances of winning the coming bye – election because Abiru is a well loved candidate. He is loved by the people, traditional rulers, political leaders and party followers. They all love him. So, we have 99.9 chances of winning the election”, Hon. Oshin said assuringly.
