By Ayodele Abere.
Supporters of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo have held a rally to drum home the realization of his ambition to become Nigeria’s President in 2023 following his declaration.
The movement which took off from the Adebayo area of Ado-Ekiti, took the supporters across the city centre of the Fajuyi Park, Ojumose, Ereguru, King’s market, Ijigbo, and the Ajilosun axis of the metropolis and terminated at the All Progressives Congress,APC, Secretariat, Ajilosun, where they were formally received by the leadership of the party.
The Ekiti State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr Segun Dipe appreciated the supporters for the way they conducted themselves peacefully during the rally. He explained that the political space is open for every eligible contestant and at the end of the day the electorate will decide who wins. He advised that with the on-going electioneering, supporters and their leaders should guard against what could generate violence and campaign of calumny.
Director-General, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Campaign Organization,Ekiti State, Hon. Olufemi Adeleye, said the antecedents of Prof. Osinbajo engendered the pressure people exerted on him to go for the position of Nigeria’s president, adding that otherwise the Vice President was lukewarm in coming out.” We are now convinced that he has the capacity to do it, having served in various organizations, in the eighties and nineties, before becoming a Commissioner in Lagos State. And having been serving since 2015 with the President, he has learnt the rope, besides being very loyal, diligent, calculative and articulate”.
“We forced him to come out to contest. Last week, we were in Ibadan, Oyo State Capital, where we challenged him to come out to contest, he heeded to our request and came out to declare.” Hon. Adeleye urged the leadership of APC in Ekiti state to embrace Prof. Osinbajo to realize the dream, describing him as a very marketable aspirant. The Director-General who is a former member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, stressed that Ekiti APC should not miss Prof. Osinbajo so that the party doesn’t lose 2023 presidential election. He pointed out that an opinion poll confirmed that the electorate in their numbers are rooting for prof. Osinbajo.
Answering questions from journalists, he said,” if you look at our party, it’s not about big men,it’s about the capability. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the leader of the party, nobody is doubting that, but we are saying,let somebody whom we have seen his erudite performance equally test his mettle. We are also channeling the same appeal to the national level. We may see consensus,if it doesn’t come out, we see what will happen. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is Tinubu’s man and they are not fighting”.
One of the supporters, Hon. Peter Ajayi, remarked,” We have been waiting for Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to bare his mind on his contesting for the exalted position, fortunately for us he came out yesterday to make sure that he told the whole country that he’s now interested in that exalted position, and immediately he did that, it encouraged all of us to come out this morning. You could see the mammoth crowd that greeted the rally. That should tell you that people have been waiting for this auspicious time and the time has come”.
Hon. Ajayi enjoined Ekiti people to ensure they have Prof. Osinbajo as their choice, come 2023. He believed that voting for Osinbajo translates to continuity of the APC government.
According to him, Ekit State stands to gain more by voting for Prof. Osinbajo considering what the State has benefitted through him so far.
Also a supporter, Barrister Toyin Oluwasola described Prof. Osinbajo as a politician to beat. He posited that Osinbajo is a man who has traversed diverse areas of human endeavors in his service to the country and beyond, and such trajectories speak volumes of his eligibility to lead the country.
