By: Soji Ajibola
On Wednesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC) denied having a standing agreement with governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state as speculated.
The PCC was apparently reacting to a meeting the governor had with aggrieved candidates of the PDP for a national assembly, where Makinde begged for their support on the March 11 governorship election to defect to APC in the future.
According to a filler from Makinde’s camp, the governor told aggrieved candidates that he had agreed with the president-elect that he would defect to the APC after the election, and the president-elect supported his idea.
But reacting to the news of the so-called agreement between the president-elect and the governor, a member of the PCC in the state, Queen Nike Ajagbe, said Makinde was only deceiving his members, adding that the visit of the campaign team had nothing to do with the endorsement of the governor.
She said a president-elect is a party man who cannot joke with the success of his party across the country, especially the South West, which is regarded as his stronghold.
Speaking further, Ajagbe explained that it was in the programme of the campaign committee to visit all the opposition governors whenever they are in their state for the campaign; hence nobody should see it as an endorsement but a privilege to host a widely accepted presidential candidate.
The Member, Directorate of Special Duties 3, PCC said being the governor of the state; the president-elect only visited governor Makinde as he did to other opposition governors whenever he visited their states.
Citing the example of the River state governor and other state governors where the president-elect visited the government House before proceeding on campaigns, the Personal Assistant and Special Accountant to MKO on Hope 93 said she was part of all the visits of the president-elect to Makinde. No agreement was made between the campaign team and Makinde.
She said for Makinde to know that Tinubu is a party man, she said immediately the president-elect left Makinde’s office, he went straight to the ancient Mapo Hall to raise the hand of the governorship candidate of the party, Senator Teslim Folarin.
The PCC of the party said people are surprised to read that the governor claimed he had an agreement with the president-elect when he was unable to disclose his support for the president-elect elect openly, especially when he remarked that people of the state should vote for a unifier of the country during the governorship debate on Splash FM.
Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin, in a statement by his media aide, YSO Olaniyi, condemned the governor for lavishing N500million on aggrieved PDP candidates and other stakeholders.
Folarin said Makinde has demonstrated that he has nothing to offer the good people of the state than spending lavishly to please his partymen, adding that it was the same way Makinde was spending the state resources on a private jet while fighting for the so-called G-5 governors in his party.
The three-term senator, therefore, urged the people of the state to vote massively for the APC in March 11 governorship election to maintain the same party both at the federal and state levels.
