Minister appeals to Ganduje to reclaim Oyo from PDP
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has called on the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, to use the party’s recent electoral victories in Edo and Ondo states to help reclaim Oyo State from PDP.
Adelabu made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the National Working Committee of the APC at its secretariat in Abuja, where he was accompanied by Oyo State APC executives and lawmakers.
Blaming the party’s previous loss of Oyo to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on internal divisions, Adelabu assured the APC leadership that the party in Oyo State had now resolved its internal conflicts and united all factions.
“We want you to help us guide and support our state chairman so that he can also achieve the success you have demonstrated at the national level. I believe he shall learn. For the first time, after the last elections, Oyo APC can now speak with one voice,” Adelabu said.
He continued, “There is no faction in Oyo State APC anymore, and we are more determined than ever before to take over governance in Oyo State. We believe we lost the last two elections not due to the unpopularity of the party or lack of effort, but due to division. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Oyo State is an APC state, and we all know that.”
Reflecting on the party’s previous failures in Oyo, Adelabu added, “In 2019, when I was the governorship candidate, we had divisions. We could not achieve effective reconciliation before the election. We had two senators and about ten House of Representatives members, so you know that Oyo State APC is a grassroots party and it is a party of the masses.”
Adelabu also praised both Ganduje and President Bola Tinubu for their leadership, noting that the latter had shown significant courage and leadership since taking office.
In response, Ganduje expressed his satisfaction with the resolution of internal issues within Oyo APC and the renewed commitment to reclaim the state.
“Oyo is part of our blueprint, which we call political party homogeneity. We have been looking for unity and uniformity in Oyo State, which we are now seeing. You should organise a mega stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan that will involve all the members of the party, so much so that the opposition will be intimated,” Ganduje advised.
He further stressed, “We made it clear when we came on board that it will not be business as usual. We want your party offices at the ward, local government, and state levels to be physically habitable and functionally operational, with constant meetings. That is how you stay connected and coherent and, more importantly, intimidate the opponents.”
Ganduje concluded, “The task before us, and the 2027 general election, is to recover all the House of Representatives seats we lost due to the deaths of some members. The seats belong to the APC, and it is our duty to ensure we recover them.”
