Chairman of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, National Campaign Council for Ondo State Governorship Election, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday, hailed the people of Ondo State for defying Saturday’s scorching sun to elect Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Sanwo-Olu, however, assured that the APC will not break its winning streak in the South West.
The governor, in a statement, after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared Governor Aiyedatiwa as winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State, commended the people of the state for rejecting retrogression and voted for progress.
Sanwo-Olu said: “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 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 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 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 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 President 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.
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 Tinubu, 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, Abdullahi Ganduje, my colleague Governors, the various committee leaders and members, volunteers, and election support staff, we say thank you.
Also, EDO State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has congratulated the people of Ondo State for voting for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Governor Okpebholo said as neighbours, he would work with Governor Aiyedatiwa for the good and prosperity of Edo and Ondo States.
Governor Okpebholo in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary prayed to God to grant Aiyedatiwa the wisdom to pilot the affairs of the State for the next four years and bring more developments to his people.
“I congratulate my friend and brother, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, for emerging victorious in last Saturday’s governorship election.
“His victory is a good omen, and I am certain that we will work closely together to bring peace and development to our dear States as good neighbours.