The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, on Tuesday, charged chairmanship candidates of the party to work closely with their deputies and be committed to delivering on their electoral promises upon their anticipated emergence at the July 12 council polls.
Chairman of the party, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi gave the charge during the flag-off campaign for the local council polls in the state.
The event held at the party’s secretariat on ACME Road, Ogba, featured the presentation of flags to the 57 chairmanship and vice chairmanship candidates.
Ojelabi also charged the Lagos APC candidates to ensure a close working relationship with their vice chairmen in the day-to-day running of the council’s administration, noting that they are not spare tires.
“I commend the support you gave us since we started the process of selecting our candidates. I commend you on behalf of President Bola Tinubu for your perseverance and commitment to party ideals.
“To those of you that have gotten the party candidate, you must reciprocate this gesture.
“We are proud of the leadership of our party for their role in reconciling the aggrieved members. I urge our candidates to reconcile with every aggrieved aspirant. Doing this will help the party to achieve victory at the polls.
“You have been given the ticket to contribute your quota to the development of the state. We have three tiers of government. The president is doing his bid at the federal level. You can see his achievements. You can see what the Lagos state governor is doing. The onus is on you to replicate these achievements at the grassroots.
“If you perform very well, you will be considered for another term in office. In whatever you do, carry your vice chairman along because your vice chairmen are not spare tires.
“Give your leaders the respect they deserve. If you listen to them, you will be able to win the hearts of voters. We are going all out for this election. This is the real elections. We must work with LOC and the party chairman and canvases during the campaign.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, chairman, Campaign Council, Hon. Tunde Balogun charged the Local Organising Committee at the 57 LGAs and LCDAs to campaign rigorously and mobilise massively to achieve victory for the party.
He harped on the significance of the symbolic flag presentation to both the candidates and the party.
His words: “After presenting the candidates with the flags for the forthcoming local council elections, they officially become the flag-bearers of the party in the election.
“I pray all of them become victorious. I expect all our LOCs to start working officially starting from tomorrow. The LOC has been constituted in all the local government councils.
“You need to campaign rigorously till July 9, when the campaign ends.
“The local organising committee is to be co-chaired by both the council chairman and LGA party chairman. It is to be co-chaired for the effectiveness of the campaign. The ward must be massively energised since the election is taking place on July 12 while the campaign ends on July 9; therefore, we must criss-cross all the wards of the council.
“Let’s work harmoniously so that we can achieve success. Work with ethnic groups and mobilise them so that we can achieve victory.”
Chairman, GAC, Prince Tajudden Olusi, urged the candidates to work diligently to serve the people and be good ambassadors of the party.
He said, “I urge you to work diligently for the party even beyond what we did during our time as Action Group members. It was so easy to mobilise, but it’s unfortunate that youths of today don’t do this anymore. Your performance is not impressive. If we do our assigned task, our party won’t lose at the polls.
“This is what we all must work towards. The local government is the closest to the people, therefore, those of you that are standing for election must take it seriously.
“This is a rare opportunity given to you to serve the people. I implore you to make use of this opportunity to be a good ambassador of the party. Let the love of the party, the state, and the country be paramount in our hearts.”
Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa preached party supremacy and adherence to the party’s decision.
He said, “This is all about the decision of the party. It is about party supremacy. This is not about individual ambition. Politics has nothing to do with hatred. You have to support and stand by the decision of the party. We must obey the party.
“I urge the aspirants to agree and abide by the decision of the party. Let us support the candidates of the party. Another four years is around the corner; it may be your turn.
“Let us start preparing for July 12 polls. Let’s put everything we have into this election, and I have absolute belief we are going to deliver for our leader come 2027.”
