The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has constituted a 165-member committee to take its ongoing ‘reconciliation efforts’ to the grassroots ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Chairman of the APC Reconciliation Committee in the state, Prince Biyi Poroye, disclosed this at a meeting with the party’s local government and council chairmen and stakeholders.
He said the committee would engage party members in all 18 local government areas to address grievances and strengthen unity within the party.
Poroye explained that the initiative was part of efforts to deepen reconciliation in the party and ensure members at the ward and local government levels were included in the process.
According to him, the committee would work with stakeholders across the state to identify areas of disagreement, listen to aggrieved members, and seek solutions that would promote cohesion within the party ahead of the 2027 poll.
He added that the reconciliation committee’s focus would go beyond electoral victory, stressing that it also aimed to rebuild unity, discipline, and inclusiveness within the party.
‘The reconciliation is not just about winning an election. It is about establishing discipline within the party. It is about encouraging contributive leadership.
‘People have responded by embracing the principles and ideals of the reconciliation committee. They have decided on the number of members that will replicate this committee at the local government level.
‘So, there will be nine members. They are going to send the names to us and, by next week, we will constitute an enlarged reconciliation committee from the 18 local governments that will continue to work at the local government level,’ he said.
Poroye explained that the committee had encountered several grievances from party members, including complaints about a lack of inclusiveness in the distribution of appointments.
He said the reconciliation process was also intended to change members’ mindsets and discourage attacks, divisions, and entrenched factional positions within the party.
‘That is why the reconciliation is about addressing the mindsets of party members so that people can change from their former positions to new positions, bearing in mind that there is nothing to share in losing.
‘This is how we will reach the grassroots. Our people must not just read the news; they must hear directly from our leaders so that all of us can go into the election united and, after the election, still have an established party that everyone will be proud to belong to.’
The Chief of Staff to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Olusegun Omojuwa, described the decision to extend the reconciliation process to the grassroots as a step that could strengthen the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
Omojuwa, who commended Aiyedatiwa’s leadership, urged party members and leaders to cooperate with the reconciliation committee and support its efforts to resolve internal disagreements.
He said extending the committee’s structure to the local government level would give grassroots members the opportunity to participate directly in the reconciliation process.
Chairman of Idanre Local Government, Hon. Smart Omotadowa, said taking the reconciliation process to the grassroots was necessary to achieve lasting unity within the party.
Omotadowa urged APC members across the 18 local government areas to support the party’s candidates in the 2027 elections, stressing that unity remained critical to the party’s campaign.
‘The best way to make the reconciliation process work is to take it to the grassroots level. There is no way we can do better than to work in unity,’ he said.
A member of the reconciliation committee, Erelu Modupe Martins, also called for genuine reconciliation, warning that unresolved internal grievances could affect the party’s electoral fortunes.
She urged all party members to support the reconciliation initiative and ensure it reached loyalists at the grassroots.
‘There is no second in any election. We can’t afford to lose any position to the opposition,’ Martins said.