Ayedatiwa: Sanwo-Olu commends Ondo State residents, promises to bring other S’West states in APC

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said the All Progressives Congress will soon bring other states in the South-West into its fold, saying the zone is the zone of the progressives, while APC is the party of progressives.

Sanwo-Olu, the Chairman of the National Campaign Council of the APC for the Ondo State Governorship Election, spoke on Sunday shortly after Ondo State Governor, Lucky Ayedatiwa qa declared the winner of last Saturday’s governorship election with a wide margin of votes.

Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 to defeat his closet rival, Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party who got 117,845.

Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Prince Adeyemi Nejo, came a distant third with 4,138 votes.

Political analysts said it was the biggest electoral defeat since the state was created in 1976.

The elated Lagos State governor, who commended the residents of the state for putting their trust in the party, added that the support would boost the party’s energy to continue Nigeria’s economic recovery efforts.

The governor’s speech in full:

“Distinguished gentlemen of the press, it is with joy and honour that I welcome you all to this post-election press conference, which is primarily to say THANK YOU to the good people of Ondo State for their unflinching support and continued belief in our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC! This belief and support for our party have been demonstrated a number of times, including the past Governorship elections, the Local Government elections and the Presidential election that ushered in the Renewed Hope team of our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“As progressives, you have stood by us through difficult times, and now, the good times are here because you came out in numbers yesterday, defying the hot scorching sun, and waited on the queues for hours to cast your ballot for our candidate, your Governor, Mr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, and his deputy, Dr. Olayide Adelami.

“As always, you roundly rejected those other political parties that represent nothing but retrogression, and you voted for progress. For this, we say thank you.

“As the Chairman of the National Campaign Council of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, for the Ondo Governorship election, it is humbling for me to see that the task given to us by our party, under the able leadership of His Excellency, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, to ensure that we came out victorious was executed to the letter, and the results have shown that all members of the Campaign Council and other subcommittees worked assiduously to achieve success.

“But I must state at this juncture that our work was made a lot easier by the good job that His Excellency, the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, had done, which has been built on by his successor, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, for the people of Ondo State. As the saying goes, you can’t build something on nothing! We only came here to build layers on the structure provided by Governor Aiyedatiwa and his team.

“It should be noted, however, that the winning streak of the APC in past months at various elections is a manifestation of the great strides that our leader, the President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is making in his Renewed Hope Agenda of reshaping our economy and putting the country’s socio-political system in the right direction. Our people can see this, and the massive support will further boost the party’s energy to continue her economic recovery efforts.

“Gentlemen of the press, as the South West Zonal Coordinator, I want to assure you that the All Progressives Congress will not break the party’s winning streak in the South West of Nigeria. After all, our zone is the home of the progressive elements in Nigeria’s political landscape. We will win more states to our fold in due course.

“I would like to thank our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for providing us with the right leadership and charting the right direction for us to follow as we work towards the country’s social-economic transformation. To the National Working Committee, NWC, of our party, led by the Chairman, His Excellency Abdullahi Ganduje, my colleague Governors, the various committee leaders and members, volunteers, and election support staff, we say thank you.

“This appreciation will not end without the mention of the local campaign committee led by the Lucky man himself, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Ondo APC chairman, Engr. Ade Adetimehin, party leaders, and all those that played one role or another in ensuring that we came home with the trophy in yesterday’s election. We say thank you all.

“In conclusion, we must appreciate and thank the security services for the good job they did. Yesterday’s election is an example of Nigeria’s Can-Do spirit! The peaceful nature of the poll should now be a pattern in future elections in Nigeria. We must also commend the election umpires, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for living up to their commitments. And to the gentlemen of the press, you have done well.”