2027: Stabilise party in Oyo, Osun, Yoruba group urges SW APC govs

(From left) Deputy leader Yoruba Leaders of Thought, Ekiti State Chapter, Mr Bayo Idowu; a former Commissioner for Labour, Productivity and Human Capital Development in Ekiti State, Asiwaju Apalara Adewumi; Ondo State Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa; and YLT National Secretary, Mr Bayo Aina.

The Yoruba Leaders of Thought have urged Governors Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State to work together to stabilise the All Progressives Congress in Oyo and Osun states ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

YLT Leader, Chief Tajudeen Olusi, harped on “the need to intensify the efforts being made to ensure that President Bola realised his ambition and ensure continuity in the various reforms being implemented to put the country’s economy on sound footing.”

A statement released by the group’s National Secretary, Mr Bayo Aina, made available to PUNCH Online in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, stated that Olusi, represented by former deputy governors of Oyo and Ogun states, Chief Iyiola Oladokun and Chief Segun Adesegun, respectively, spoke in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during a strategic meeting with Aiyedatiwa.

He stated that the YLT delegation, at the strategic meeting on the second-term ambition of President Bola Tinubu, announced the appointment of Governor Aiyedatiwa as one of the patrons of the group.

Aina stated, “The purpose of the visit was to intimate Governor Aiyedatiwa with our plan of action for the 2027 presidential elections and how we can generate significant synergy from mutual understanding and efforts.

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“The group implored the governor to work with his brother governors to help stabilise the APC in Oyo and Osun states where the party does not have sitting governors.”

While the governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, is of the Accord Party, his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement.

The YLT national scribe added that “much to Mr Governor’s delight, our National Leader, Prince Tajudeen Oluyole Olusi, who could not personally lead the team due to the sudden nature of the appointment, was linked up with the governor and they exchanged ideas on the various steps taken by the group to foster unity ahead of the next general elections.

“Mr Governor was subsequently made the Life Patron of Yoruba Leaders of Thought in Ondo State, and the induction was done by Chief Mrs Olajumoke Anifowoshe, daughter of the late sage and former governor of Old Ondo State, Chief Adekunle Ajasin. Mr Governor nominated the APC chairman in Ondo State, Mr Kolawole Babatunde, as his point man in YLT,” he stated.

The YLT national scribe said that Aiyedatiwa hailed the group “for choosing Ondo State as its first point of call and also for nominating him as the first patron because Ondo State is the home of progressive politics where the first and historic public inauguration of the Action Group was held in April 1951”.