Makinde Confident APC Will Not Govern Nigeria Beyond 2023

The governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde has made it known that the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not last past 2023 as Nigerians are fed up with their ineptitude and will boot the party out of power at the polls in 2023.

According to Oyo Affairs, the Governor made the statement on Wednesday during the inauguration of PDP South-West Zonal Executives at the Government House, Agodi and added that the country was being shown the way forward by the South-West geopolitical zone.

In a press release signed by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Taiwo Adisa, the governor was quoted to have said that the unity shown by the PDP will make Nigerians happy and secure victory for the party in the South-West and in Nigeria.

The governor was emphatic in his belief that the APC would be kicked out of power in 2023 and also said that there is an urgent need to address and fix the security challenges as well as the ailing economy, both of which are proof of the APC’s ineptitude.

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He said: “I want to thank you all for the peaceful transfer of power in South-West PDP. I want to also congratulate you, the Chairman and other zonal executive members of the South-West PDP and pray that you will steer the ship of the party to a fair haven.”

“As I said before we started voting at the congress, it is a family affair and our intention was not to defeat ourselves but to bring forward our best materials, which we can use to defeat APC. And I am glad that our best materials for the South-West are seated right before me.”

“We need to show the entire country that we are ready to take power back at the centre. I was reading in the newspaper where a national leader of the APC said that the APC will be in power beyond 2023. I want to say it is a big lie. Let them hear that from this South-West PDP Congress, the redemption of Nigeria has started.

Nigerians are tired of all the misgovernance of the APC at the national level. Is it insecurity? Is it the economic meltdown? Is it the aloofness of the entire leadership of government at the national level? Is that what is giving them the assurance of continuing beyond 2023? No, Nigerians will not take that.”

The governor also enjoined the new executive members to find common ground with aggrieved members and to bring them back into the fold.

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In his words: “Yes, you have your work cut out for you. We don’t want anyone staying on the outside and throwing stones on the inside. We want you to go out to anyone in PDP South-West that may be aggrieved, bring them inside. So, we have to ensure that all our members are brought back to the fold because unity is what we desire and unity is what will win the zone for us.”

“Yes, I have been accused that I have not reached out to some personalities in the party. It is true but I was not the one who won the election. I think it is the winner of the election that is supposed to put a call through to those party members. In any case, I will call them at my own time. As a matter of fact, now that we have inaugurated our excos, I will call them.”

“If we look at the PDP set up nationally, South-West is in the same situation as North-Central. The strongest zone so far is the South-South geopolitical zone. For us in the South-West, it is time to ensure that we take our rightful position before the general elections in 2023.

South-West is the only zone that has two off-season elections before 2023. So, can you now see that your job is already waiting for you?”

“Let us just even step back for one minute; if the PDP wins the two elections, what do you think will happen in the 2023 general elections? So, that is why it is important that we don’t give room for those hell-bent on destroying our chance in the South-West because the stakes are really very high, not only for the zone but for the country. So, let us leave behind the things that happened in the past leading up to the congress.”

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Governor Makinde also expressed his willingness to work with, and support the newly inaugurated Zonal Executives and reminded everyone present that the upcoming Ekiti and Osun state elections are a must-win for the PDP.

“Those states, Osun and Ekiti, will hold elections next year and it is a must-win election for us. For me, I stand before you the newly inaugurated zonal executive committee for PDP South West, that I will support you. Yes, we still have quite a bit to chew through but I don’t have any doubt that with the quality of people that we have in this zonal exco and the quality of representation that we will be having at the national executive committee of our party, the South-West has found its voice.”

“At the national level, there is an emergency meeting tomorrow and all the six of you must be there. One thing I want to put before you that you must canvass at that NEC meeting if it comes up, is the fact that it is time for PDP at the national level to put together a committee to start looking at the zoning of positions for the party nationally.”

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In his remarks, the newly-inaugurated South-West PDP Chairman, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, said that the priority of him and his Zonal Executives would be to return the lost glory of the PDP in the South-West zone.

He added that the new zonal exco will make sure that thorough vetting is done to ensure that credible and acceptable candidates are presented for future elections.
 

He said: “This time, not five out of six but the entire South-West zone will be won for the PDP. I shall dispense all powers at my disposal to justify the confidence reposed in me by His Excellency, Engineer Seyi Makinde, all leaders of the party at the congress of April 12, 2021, and the confidence of the entire members of PDP in the zone.”