By Ayodele Oni
As the All Progressive Congress, (APC) prepares for its congresses at the various levels, party leaders have been meeting to devise means of ensuring a peaceful and rancour free process.
In Ondo State, leaders have opted for a consensus method of choosing officials of the party at the July 24 ward congress.
According to them, the method will further cement the unity in the party and make it more formidable than ever before.
The State Governor and leader of the party in the state, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who spoke during a Stakeholders’ Meeting on Friday, said a significant percentage of youths and women must be considered in the distribution of party positions.
In Ekiti state where a stakeholders’ meeting was also held, no agreement was reached as to whether election or consensus arrangement would be adopted.
A former Chairman of the APC in the state, Chief Jide Awe, had flayed the consensus arrangement, which he said was undemocratic.
Chief Awe was once a beneficiary of consensus arrangement which allowed him to head the party for ten years.
Speaking at the stakeholders meeting held in Ado Ekiti on Friday, former Governor Niyi Adebayo, towed the line of Governor Akeredolu of Ondo state as he made a case for a generational shift in politics and governance to allow for the greater participation of younger people.
Otunba Adebayo, who was Governor of Ekiti state at the age of 41, said that at his age, fatigue sometimes sets in because of the grueling long hours of meetings and travels associated with politics and governance.
Otunba Adebayo, who is currently Minister for Trade and Investment, used the opportunity of the meeting to refute insinuations of a rift between him and Governor Fayemi, saying “Kayode Fayemi and I are one.
“There is no division between us. We always work together and are in constant consultation on matters relating to politics and governance in the state and nationally.”
Otunba Adebayo also denied ever nursing a second term ambition as Governor, saying Governor Fayemi’s first term was his own second term, and that he is now in his third term through Governor Fayemi’s current tenure.
He emphasized the need for continuity and consolidation, when he said that by the time he and Governor Fayemi, with the support of the party elders and members, successfully install a successor in the 2022 gubernatorial election, he would commence his fourth term in office.
In his remarks, Governor Kayode Fayemi explained that there is only one APC structure in Ekiti, and admonished party members to go back to the grassroots and be more inclusive and participatory in politics across the state, and eschew greed and the imposition of the will of a few over the majority.
Dr Fayemi has been consistently very vocal and unapologetic about the need for young people to step up to the plate and organize towards deepening their participation in politics and governance in the country.
He however admonished young people not to approach politics with a sense of entitlement, but rather leverage their numerical strength, ideas, and energy, to bring about change.
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