TINUBU INDEPENDENT ACTION MOVEMENT (TIAM)
On 10th May, 2023, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State released a press statement in which he rejected and condemned the zoning of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly by the National Working Committee of our party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
We dissociate ourselves from his unwarranted and publicly documented outburst. It severely undermined the leadership of our party and affronted our President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who also doubles as the National Leader of our party as we have no doubts that the National Working Committee announced the zoning arrangement after due consultation with the President-elect and National Leader. We are not of course surprised as Governor Akeredolu has a track record of anti-party activities and this has proved costly to the party in Ondo State.
We recall that during the presidential and National Assembly elections of 2019, Akeredolu confronted the leadership of the party by asking candidates to be fielded under the Action Alliance against the candidates of the APC. Consequently, the party lost the presidential election, two of the three senatorial seats and five of the nine house of reps seats.
At the last presidential primary electionof our party in 2022, it is public knowledge that Governor Akeredolu preferred another candidate to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and worked assiduously to forestall the emergence of the Jagaban as our party’s presidential candidate.
We concede to him the right to support any candidate of his choice but he has no right to continue to portray Ondo State APC in bad light.
We recall that the Governor was a beneficiary of Tinubu’s well-known support for candidates. For, in the gubernatorial election of 2012, Akeredolu was the choice of Tinubu who as a result gave him all the support he needed.
We must say emphatically that Akeredolu was never with Tinubu during the recent presidential election. He was lukewarm publicly but worked against the Jagaban behind the scene. However, that was in fact a blessing to Tinubu as Akeredolu has become very unpopular in the State particularly among the rank and file of APC members. Without his support for Tinubu and in spite of his sympathy for another candidate, APC members in particular and Ondo State voters in general voted overwhelmingly for Tinubu with 69% return which turned out to be the highest in the country.
We of the Tinubu Independent Action Movement led the campaign in the State to Akeredolu’s discomfiture and discomfort. We are therefore not surprised that he remains bitter and has chosen to visit the transferred aggression on the leadership of our party.
We want to assure our leaders, particularly our President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that Akeredolu is on his own. The large majority of APC members in Ondo State is loyal to him, to our National Working Committee and to our party in general.
On the specific issue of the zoning of National Assembly leadership positions, we trust the judgment of the national leadership of our party. Therefore, we support whatever decision it takes on the matter. We implore our National Working Committee to ignore the tirades, vituperation and vilification poured on it by Akeredolu. We also plead with our National Leader and President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reject any attempt by Akeredolu or any other person or group for that matter to distract him from his focus on the challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead of him.
Long live APC
Long live Ondo State
Long live Nigeria
Senator Tayo Alasoadura
Chairman
Senator (Prof) Robert Ajayi Boroffice
Senate Deputy Majority Leader
TIAM Leader
Peoplesmind
