Ambassador Olusola Iji on Thursday, declares intention to contest on the coming Ondo APC Guber Primary as he was recieved at the party State Secretariat along Oyemekun Road, in Akure, by Engr. Ade Adetimehin.
Iji, who came to intimate the state Exco of his intention to contest the party governorship primary after purchasing his nomination form at the party headquarters in Abuja, said he is hopeful to win the exercise.
Engr. Ade Adetimehin commended the Nigeria Ambassador to the Republic of Togo unalloyed loyalty to the course of the party – a true progressives to the core and one of the founding fathers of the progressive party in Ondo State.
“The history of progressive politics in the state would not be written without mentioning the enormous contributions of Ambassador Olusola Iji as the first state chairman of the party who worked assiduously for the growth of the party in the state. A decent politician with unflinching integrity whose only political affiliation has been the progressives brand of politics since the inception of the third republic,” Adetimehin emphasized.
In his response, Ambassador Olusola Iji who regretted that his intention was to visit the party earlier in March 2020, but for his tight schedule, intimated the party of his intention to contest the coming governorship election under the platform of the APC in the state.
He believes the way to go is to inform the state ExCo first as charity begins at home, and as the custodian of the party in the state, whose leadership he duly subscribed to, and being a former chairman himself, he very much justified the reason for his visit.
Ambassador Iji commended the leader of the party in the state Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for the good work of infrastructure development across the state and the beautiful facelift giving to the state capital as a worthy cause and a thing of pride to the party.
He also used the forum to condemn the fractionalization of the party in the state, thereby calling for party unity, especially, the need for all the party aspirants to close ranks and imbibe the principle of politics without bitterness among themselves.
“I have never said any negative comment about the governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, before and would never do so in spite of us pursuing the same ambition. The governor is my friend and brother whom I have the cause to support his ambition for governorship in the past.”
“Let us say I publicly attack him and he eventually wins our party ticket in the coming primary, how would I have possibly paraphrase this opprobrious conduct in the public space to sell his candidacy to the electorate” Ambassador Iji said.
Ambassador Iji said he preferred to be in the opposition within the party in government than to allow the party to lose the election through anti-party activities and be in the opposition to another party in government.
While seeking for fairness and equity in the consideration for who becomes the next governor of the state and the zone, he promised to lead by example if elected as the governor. He concluded by establishing his commitment to the pause of the party through developmental levy.
Engr. Ade Adetimehin praised the Ambassador for the visit as exemplary. He wished him success in his ambition. He assured him of a level playing ground to test his popularity among party members who are, invariably, going to be the decider of who becomes the party standard bearer in the general election.
Adetimehin wished Ambassador Iji a successful outing at the primary, while also seeking for the support of all the party aspirants in the party to embrace the choice of the party to prevail at the end of the primary exercise slated for July 20. 2020.
