The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has advised followers of the governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Accord Party and the Labour Party, Senator Teslim Folarin, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala respectively to jump out of what it called their sinking ship ahead of the April 11 governorship election.
The party, in a statement issued in Ibadan on Monday by its state Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, said that the dismal outing of the PDP, Accord and Labour Party candidates had clearly shown them as paperweight politicians.
APC thanked the people of Oyo State for keeping faith with the party as demonstrated by the overwhelming victory of the party during last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
The party also counseled the gubernatorial candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Seyi Makinde, to join the winning team in order not to mortgage his political future.
It said further that the voting pattern of the last elections had clearly shown their belief and support for the APC-led administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi as well as their political sophistication.
“Besides, the outcome of the elections has shown that the people of the state will never again fall for the bait of propaganda, deceit, falsehood, character assassination and reactionary politics for which the leading opposition parties’ candidates are known.
“Now that the people of Oyo State have again shown their preference for the APC, we strongly advise the followers of Folarin, Ladoja and Akala to review their stance and jump out of the turbulent ship in order not to sink with them.
“We equally want to counsel the standard bearer of the SDP in the April 11 governorship election, to reflect on his political future which will strongly believe will better be enhanced if he teams up with the APC now, along with his followers,’’ the party said.
APC said that the showing of Akala-led Labour Party in some parts of Ogbomoso out of the five zones of the state was a further attestation to the party’s position that the ex-governor was only a local champion that lacks general appeal in the political matrix of the state.
“With the outcome of the election, Ladoja and his Accord Party should by now resign to fate that the people of Oyo State have finally rejected them. This informs our advice to the innocent followers who all along been deceived into believing that he was a force to be reckoned with.
“Again, the people of Oyo State and supporters of the Accord should realize that it is not in their best interest to support the party which neither has root nor foundation capable of protecting their interest both at the state and national levels,’’ it said.
The party, therefore, appealed to the people of the state to embrace the broom revolution sweeping across the country, particularly in the South-West, by rallying behind the APC and Governor Ajimobi for the April 11 gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.
According to APC, the palpable and remarkable achievements of Governor Ajimobi in the last four years in social and physical infrastructure, people’s welfare, environmental sanitation and urban renewal are enough to vote for the governor for a second term.