Ondo State Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has charged members of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Election Campaign Council in the state to intensify grassroots mobilisation and secure victory for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Aiyedatiwa gave the charge on Saturday during the inauguration of the campaign council, its directorates and subcommittees, describing the exercise as a crucial step towards the party’s preparations for the election.
The governor, who chairs the council, said unity and collective action were essential to the APC’s electoral success, noting that the party’s size and political influence alone would not guarantee victory without internal cohesion.
He urged party leaders and members to set aside individual differences and work together to protect their political interests and those of their communities.
According to him, the coalition-building strategy that helped the APC win the 2015 presidential election remains relevant to its chances in 2027.
Aiyedatiwa also called on the campaign team to highlight the achievements of the Tinubu administration and his government in Ondo State as part of efforts to convince voters.
He listed regular salary payments, graduate training programmes, road and bridge construction, the provision of equipment for public hospitals and health centres, and investments in education among his administration’s achievements.
The governor maintained that Tinubu’s reforms and infrastructure projects had given the party sufficient talking points for its campaign.
He particularly cited the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, describing it as an ambitious project that previous administrations had not undertaken.
Aiyedatiwa said the inauguration followed a directive given to APC leaders at the national level on October 14 to establish similar campaign structures in their respective states.
He urged members of the council and its committees to extend their mobilisation efforts to all parts of Ondo State and communicate the achievements of the federal and state governments to residents before the election.
The Deputy Governor, Olayide Adelami, also called on party members to strengthen their grassroots engagement, setting a target of one million votes for Tinubu in the state.
Adelami said achieving the target would require sustained door-to-door and street-to-street campaigns to reach households and communities across the state.
He encouraged women, youths, elders and other groups to participate actively in the campaign, describing Tinubu as a visionary leader who had demonstrated a commitment to fulfilling his promises.
He expressed confidence that the President would provide the resources required for the exercise and urged party members to return to their constituencies to mobilise support.
The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, urged APC leaders to work towards Tinubu’s re-election, saying the state had a record of electoral victories that the party should strive to maintain.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council, Pius Akinyelure, expressed optimism about the party’s chances, attributing his confidence to the turnout at the inauguration.
Akinyelure said the APC was determined to surpass the one-million-vote target being discussed by party leaders.
In his welcome address, the state APC chairman, Kolawole Babatunde, called on the campaign committees to engage residents across the state and mobilise support based on the performance of the federal and state governments.
He said the campaign would focus on communicating the administration’s achievements to voters.
Babatunde also highlighted the relationship between the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Aiyedatiwa’s development programmes, citing the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme and student loan scheme alongside state-level grants and scholarships.
He commended the governor for strengthening unity within the party and supporting its organisational structure ahead of the 2027 polls.
In separate goodwill messages, Senator Remi Okinrinboye, Chief Olusola Oke and Senator Tayo Alasoadura praised Tinubu’s economic reforms and expressed confidence in the state’s support for his second-term bid.
They urged party members to work towards securing at least one million votes for the President and ensuring victory for other APC candidates in Ondo State.
The Director-General of the campaign council, Victor Olabimtan, in his acceptance speech, commended Tinubu’s efforts towards national development and thanked Aiyedatiwa for his support.
Olabimtan called on party faithful to actively campaign for the President, expressing confidence that Ondo State could improve on its previous electoral performance.
Dignitaries at the event included the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Fasoranti; former Deputy Governor, Omolade Oluwateru; Chairman of the APC Elders’ Forum, Senator Nimbe Farukanmi; members of the state House of Assembly; former lawmakers; party chieftains; women and youth leaders; members of the State Executive Council; the Agbaka of Alagbaka, Oba Afolabi Obasuyi; and other political appointees and dignitaries.
