By Ezeocha Nzeh
Ahead of the July governorship election in Osun state, supporters of incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola has boasted that he has the political structure to win re election for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
Senator Bashiru Adebola, who led the governor’s supporters to buy his expression of interest and nomination form for the election at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, noted that it is only the structure and not personality that would win the election for the APC
The senator who was reacting to questions on the lingering crisis between the Governor and his predecessor and minister of Interior, Raid Aregbesola, insisted that the election would be conducted on the issue of personality, adding that “Political parties are institutions of democracy and they are run on the basis of the structure
“Today, in the State of Osun, the highest hierarchy of our party is constituted in what is called Egbe Igbimo agba which is headed by no less person than the founding chairman of our party Baba Bisi Akande and we also have former governors, deputy governors, members of national assembly, current and seasoned politicians in that club. We also have federal constituency structures in all the nine federal constituencies.
“We also have ward executives, local executives and unit executives. So, it’s about structures that win elections and not personality. So we believe that the existing structures of our party is such that the party that is really in existence today is the APC
He argued further that the governor has led the APC to victory in previous elections, since he became the governor, adding that he has built a solid structure to win his re election
“Beyond the 2018 election, the first election and the only election that has been conducted under the leadership of Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola is the 2019 general elections and I challenge you to go to INEC website to download the results. There are nine federal constituencies in the State of Osun. Our party APC had six out of that nine seats and of course if you do the percentage that is about 65% that’s B plus. Then in the Senatorial election in the three Senatorial districts, our party got two out of the three Senatorial districts I think that’s also about 70% and of course in the house of assembly, of the 26 seats we have in Osun, our party had 23 out of the 26 and all of them are still members of our political party. So when you have a political party that has in its fold two senators, six house of Representatives members and 23 elected State legislators I don’t think it is beyond any doubt to say the party to beat in the State of Osun is the APC and the leadership of the party has provided structure to ensure that we deliver massively.
“And we also know that the presidential election in 2019, Osun is one of the States that delivered for our leader president Muhammadu Buhari. So no doubt, the State of our party is strong, vibrant, cohesive and articulate to deliver for the party in the 2022”
On the possibility of APC retaining power in Osun state, following reports of mass defection of members to PDP, the senator stated, “there’s nothing like mass defection, in fact if there’s any movement, it is movement towards APC. From what is on ground today, objectively, and you can go and conduct vox pop in the streets of Osun, the party to beat is APC and the aspirant that will get the mandate of APC is Gboyega Oyetola “
