The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday inaugurated its 77-member National Campaign Council for the Ekiti State governorship election with a directive to members to avoid hate speech.
The campaign council headed by Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu has 13 other governors, seven ministers, serving and former senators. The former Deputy National Chairman and one of the aspirants who lost at the primary, Segun Oni, led some of the former aspirants on the council.
Of the 14 governors named as members of the campaign council, only Ondo State’s Oluwarotimi Akeredolu attended the inauguration which was performed by the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the party, Senator Lawal Shuaibu on behalf of the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
The candidate for the election, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, was not at the inauguration. Also absent were many others. But, National Organising Secretary Senator Osita Isunazo said they were absent because of “communication problem,” stressing that they had not been contacted about their, membership of the committee.
The 77-member campaign council has governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Zamfara, Jigawa, Plateau, Edo, Kogi, Borno and Adamawa as members. There are also one minister from each of the six geopolitical zones.
Inaugurating the council, Shuaibu said the election was too important to the party to begin to engage in hate speech as a campaign weapon, stressing that “even if other parti3s will engage in hate speech, you should concentrate on winning the election”.
He said the party will not relent in its efforts to win, adding that “to show you the the importance we place on the election, I want inform you that this election is just a little below the presidential election to us”.
Responding on behalf of the chairman, Akeredolu said they took the task assigned to them as very important, stressing that “this is not the first time the importance of this election has been emphasised. When those of us from the Southwest met with the President, he stressed the importance of the election.
“It’s importance is very great to us in the Southwest and it is a task that must be accomplished. We will map out strategies to win the election because we have faced many affront and so many challenges had been thrown at us by Fayose.
“Ayo Fayose who is there has thrown a lot of challenges at us and we must be united to confront that challenge and if we fail in this task, it means that we a not serious as a party.”