The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest has warned the people against intra-ethnic alliances and associations against its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the 2023 general election.
The warning was given by the Vice Chairman, SouthWest, Isaac Kekemeke and the party governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin, during the flag-off of a one million roadshow for Tinubu, organised by the youths from the region, on Thursday, in Ibadan.
Kekemeke warned against the repeat of what happened in 1983 and 1993 when some elements from the region ganged up against the realization of the presidential ambition of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Late Chief Moshood Abiola, respectively.
He declared that there was no division in the Oyo State branch of the party.
He further advised that the party faithful not to allow the opportunity of producing the next president from the region to slip off their hands in 2023.
Kekemeke said: “There is no division in the Oyo state chapter of the APC. We have only one governorship candidate, Teslim Folarin, 3 Senatorial District candidates, 14 House of Representatives candidates, and 32 House of Assembly candidates.
“It is unconstitutional for a party member to associate with candidates of another party.
“It is our turn in Yorubaland to produce the country’s next leader in 2023. Our candidate is no other person than Tinubu.
“When you look at the profile of all the presidential candidates, Tinubu is the most qualified among them. In the Southwest, Tinubu deserves more than 90% of our votes,” he posited.
In his speech, the governorship candidate of the party in Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin, while drumming up support for Tinubu, said Tinubu had all it takes to lead the country.
Folarin noted: “PDP has failed the country in the past. It will be wrong and catastrophic to give them another shot at power in 2023.”
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Also speaking, one of the conveners of the programme and the party’s candidate for the Federal House of Representatives in Ibadan South East/North East Constituency, Hon. Adedapo Lam-Adesina described the event as a wonderful one, showing that the APC presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an acceptable product that does not need to convince people before he is accepted.
Adesina clarified that the event was just for the youths within the 11 Local Government Areas in the Ibadan metropolis and not the entire Oyo APC youth, saying: “With this mammoth crowd, you could imagine if it was Oyo APC youth and we just planned this in less than a week.”
Meanwhile, the youths from all the states in the SouthWest embarked on a one million-man road show in support of Tinubu.
The youths took off from the State Secretariat of the party in Oke-Ado in the Ibadan South-East Local Government. They terminated the walk at the Cocoa House building, Dugbe, Ibadan.
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