The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday emphasised the importance of winning the November 16 governorship election in Ondo state and retaining the state for the party.
Ganduje said the ruling party needed to win a landslide victory in the election to show respect for President Bola Tinubu who hailed from the southwest zone.
The APC national chairman spoke in Akure, the Ondo state capital, while inaugurating the National Campaign Council for the state governorship election.
The 305-member council is led by the Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Ganduje asked members of the council to hit the ground running and work harmoniously with the state and local government campaign councils in order to ensure the success of the party in the coming poll.
He expressed confidence that the ruling party would win the election with a wide margin through a free and fair process.
“We are here to create an enabling environment so that the election will be free and fair. And the election will be victorious for our party.
“We appreciate the reform the state governor has introduced. We must support him so that he will continue to provide good governance for the state. He is a lucky man and he will continue to be lucky,” Ganduje said.
Sanwo-Olu, in his acceptance speech, told the APC leadership that the committee would try its best to ensure a resounding victory in the forthcoming election.
“The campaign will be issue-based and devoid of insult. We can boldly come out for Governor Aiyedatiwa because he has made us proud within his short period as a governor of the state.
“We will not disappoint the party, the people of the state. We will win with nothing less than 80 percent of the total votes,” he said.
The Ondo state governor and candidate of the party, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, enumerated his achievements since he came into the office.
He said: “We have focused on strengthening governance institutions through fiscal discipline, improved healthcare, access to quality education, and responsible citizenship.
“We have shown commitment to social welfare to alleviate the sufferings of our people. We have deliberately created a stronger engagement with our women, too.
“We are concerned with leadership with integrity and character. We are not talking about our people, we are talking with them. Remarkably, within our 10 months in the saddle, we have activated the construction of not less than 70km of rural roads to provide access to our farm settlements and villages.
“This is in addition to the new 60km city-based roads recently awarded alongside the ongoing roads, bridges, and public building projects initiated and awarded by our administration.
“It is significant that our workers are happy and well-motivated as we pay their salaries regularly and promptly. We owe no kobo to workers, even as they enjoy their regular promotions.
“We have employed workers into critical sectors of the public service, such as health and Internal Revenue Service, while processes at an advanced stage to recruit about 2,000 teachers for public primary and secondary schools.
“We have supported not less than 500 youths with hundreds of millions of naira in grants and loans as part of start-up kits for their entrepreneurial businesses.
“We are supporting our farmers with access to quality funds and finance as well as technology and trade. We are also giving scholarships, bursaries, and financial assistance to students of Ondo State origin in higher institutions across Nigeria.”