Makinde Never Worked For Tinubu – Oyo APC Declares

The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that there was never a time that the state Governor, Seyi Makinde, worked for the party.

Naija News understands there were speculations that Makinde, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), canvassed votes for APC presidential candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that Makinde and former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and other members of the PDP G-5, refused to support their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the last election.

Notably, Oyo is one of the states cleared by Tinubu during the February 25th election.

Speaking, however, on Tuesday, APC chairman in Oyo State, Issac Omodewu, said the state belonged to APC and that Makinde never worked in favour of the party as speculated in some quarters.

Tinubu Has Not Compensated Us

Speaking further, Omodewu said President Tinubu has not compensated members of the party in Oyo state for their efforts in the general elections.

He said it is necessary due to the role played by members of the party in the emergence of Tinubu during the 2023 general elections.

Naija News understands that Omodewu stated this while receiving the national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, who was on an official visit to the state secretariat of the party in the Oke-Ado area of Ibadan.

Addressing the gathering, Omodewu noted that despite the challenges faced, APC members worked to ensure that all the candidates of the party were given adequate support.

Omodewu said: “We worked for the party, we won three senatorial seats and nine House of Representatives seats. We are yet to be compensated because we worked for our father. We are now appealing to you to compensate us.

“During the primary, our members voted. A former gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party is here with us now. There was never a time that Seyi Makinde worked for APC. We are preparing for the local government election; we have conducted our primary election, and there is no problem. We want to assure you that Oyo State belongs to APC.

“Meanwhile, as events that heralded the last general election are still fresh in our memory, we must inform you that Oyo APC remains an unsung hero because we got little support but we delivered beyond expectations.

“In spite of the fact we had no sitting governor in Oyo, electioneering was quite challenging as we had to face a lot of hostilities from the PDP government in the state, as sponsored thugs attacked our members on many occasions. The same PDP hoodlums did not spare all our campaign facilities, including billboards, vehicles, and buildings, among others, which they attacked and destroyed at will.”

He appealed directly to Ganduje, saying, “As it stands today, we are not getting fair treatment, but we remain hopeful that things will change for the better.”

In his remarks, Ganduje urged members of the party to promote unity among them in order to form the next government in the state.

“I thank you all. We are here for some official engagements. We cannot visit Ibadan without visiting our state headquarters. We thank you for voting for our President, Senators, House of Representatives members, and House of Assembly members. But we want you to be united so that the government of Oyo State will be in your hands,” the former Governor of Kano State said.