Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has criticized the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, following his comments about the party’s ambition to take control of the South-West region by displacing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo and Osun states.
Ganduje made the remarks after the APC candidate, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, was declared the winner of the Ondo State governorship election. He stated that the party’s next target is the South-West, emphasizing that they would do everything possible to bring Oyo and Osun states into the APC fold.
Ganduje said, “Our next target now is the South-West geopolitical zone, and you know we are good at hitting the target. We will do all that is possible to bring them into the fold so that we have political homogeneity in the South-West geopolitical zone.”
However, Governor Makinde, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, responded strongly, stating that the Oyo State government and the PDP would not yield to the APC’s plans. Olanrewaju expressed support for a statement by the acting Publicity Secretary of Oyo PDP, Micheal Ogunsina, who condemned Ganduje’s statement.
Ogunsina dismissed the idea of a takeover, emphasizing that the people of Oyo State would not abandon the peace, progress, and good governance under the Makinde administration for the “devastation, pain, sorrow, and tears” associated with the APC.
The Oyo PDP further criticized the APC, suggesting that rather than focusing on state capture, the federal government should address the burdens placed on Nigerians by its policies. “Instead of easing the people’s burden, the APC and its leadership are fixated on capturing states and controlling people’s destinies,” Ogunsina said, drawing a comparison between the APC’s actions and those of “forest bandits.”
The statement continued, “Our people are tired of a party that is progressive only in name. Ganduje and his cohorts, who wish to extend the APC’s suffering to Oyo State, should stop plotting against the will of the people. We reject the curse from Ganduje and his APC; our God, who abhors the wicked, will reject them too.”
The Oyo PDP reaffirmed that the state would remain an “oasis of peace, ease, and good governance” and would not surrender to what they described as the predatory intentions of the APC. They also noted that no sensible person in Oyo State would welcome the hardship imposed by the APC’s policies.
“Rather than focus on state capture, a responsible ruling party would be working to repair the damage it has done to the country’s economy and the people’s finances. But since the APC cannot provide what it does not have, it is solely concerned with power grabs and state domination,” the statement concluded.
