Ajimobi: APC will not rig council polls

Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State says his state will change the countrywide narration, where the party in power automatically wins all the local council polls.

He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his state will not rig the Feb. 11 Local council polls.

Ajimobi stated this on Friday at the Empowerment Programme of Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu held at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

‘’We won’t rig the local government election. We must all come together as a party to win the election.

‘’We must all sit down together in selecting the best candidates for the elections, so that we don’t lose the election,’’ he said.

The governor opined that the appropriate method for the party to pick its candidate was by consensus, where all delegates would come together and pick the candidates.

While describing the direct primaries in the electoral process as cumbersome, Ajimobi said that the party can also go for indirect primaries if consensus would not work.

‘’Our best option in APC is consensus or the indirect primaries.

We can only continue winning elections if there is unity among our members,’’ he said.

The governor called on members to welcome all new members defecting to the APC, and urged them to imbibe the art of forgiving one another.

According to him, the local government election will determine if APC is still strong and formidable in the state.

Ajimobi said that he remained the leader of APC in the state, and urged those who did not believe in his leadership to establish their own party.

He said that that there were no factions in the APC in Oyo State, saying those championing Sen. Abiola Ajimobi Campaign Organisation (SENACO) and Lamidi Adesina Loyalist (LAMIST) are mischievous.

‘’Let me tell you that there is nothing like SENACO and LAMIST in Oyo State again, they are all dead. I remain the leader of the party in the state’’, he said.