Kogi State Governor and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ekiti State Committee on Consensus Mode, Ahmed Ododo, has praised President Bola Tinubu and the national chairman of the party, Professor Netanwe Yilwatda, for ensuring a smooth primary election in the southwest state.
Governor Abiodun Oyebanji emerged as the consensus candidate during the primary held at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion in the state capital.
In a conversation with journalists after submitting the report on the outcome of the exercise to the APC Deputy Organizing Secretary, Honourable Nze Duru, Governor Ododo, who led a 10-man team that included his Edo State counterpart, Senator Monday Okpebholo as Deputy Chairman, emphasized that the success of the exercise should be credited to President Tinubu and the party’s national chairman.
He highlighted that this is the first time in the party’s history that a consensus option was adopted without any disputes, leading to the satisfaction of the stakeholders involved.
He said: ‘I want to appreciate Mr. President, our father, our leader, the president of this great nation. I want to appreciate him for being a loving father, for being a father that is out to see to the progress of this nation.
‘What we are witnessing today and the exercise we have gone to Ekiti State to do that we are celebrating today, being the first of its kind, it is because we have a sincere father, a sincere leader that is leading from the front sincerely.
‘We cannot thank him enough, we will continue to pray for him and of course I want to assure Mr. President that we the children, we are with him, we are by him, we are praying for him and we are working and ready to carry this mantra of leadership of peace to the grassroots and of course, I want to stress it that with what Mr. President is doing today for us in Nigeria, he doesn’t need to stress himself, come 2027 we will be at the forefront to drive that process.
‘Let me also recognise and appreciate our National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda for his leadership style, for giving everybody a level playing level ground to prove themselves. He has brought innovation to our party and of course I know every other party will copy from him. He has laid a template, a foundation that of course the entire nation, all political parties will come to copy so that we can continue to move forward.
‘In the history of this country, it has never happened before now but with Mr. President’s love and innovation is happening during his own time, during our own time, consensus method of primary election. History has been made in Ekiti state; in this country that for the first time under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC have laid this template, consensus mode of primary election. Most of us don’t even know what it means and I’ll tell you as it is today, the issue of litigation, no crisis, no fighting, no destruction, no waste of resources.’