National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said the party would use its template in Edo State governorship election to win the November 16 election in Ondo State.
Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State, also said the party would use the same template to win Anambra currently under the control of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and other states in the South East in future elections.
He spoke on Monday in Abuja, while celebrating the victory of Senator Monday Okpebholo with members of the Edo state election situation room.
Ganduje said a big party like the APC ought to have been fully in charge of the South East geo-political zone, and urged party leaders at all levels to work hard towards actualising the party’s objectives.
“We have started working to develop strategies to win these states. Next year, Anambra state will follow. Let me remind you that we have a project which we named political demarginalisation of South East geo-political zone.
“That project is also a task that must be done. We will face South East zone with 5 states. We already have 2, but 2 is too small for a big party like ours. We will face that state and see how we can recover many states in our favour,” Ganduje said.
2027 will be walkover for APC – N/Central elders
Meanwhile, some elders of the APC from the North Central led by a former Senate President, Ameh Ebute, have expressed optimism that the 2027 general election would be a walkover for the party.
They spoke while on a visit to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Monday to congratulate Ganduje, on his victory at the High Court in a suit which sought his removal as chairman.
The suit was filed by the North Central APC Forum which sought the court to declare Ganduje’s chairmanship of the party as a breach of the provisions of Article 7(vii) and (ix) of the party’s constitution and the consensus reached at the 2022 National Convention held in Abuja, that the national chairman of the APC from 2022 to 2026 must be someone from the North Central geopolitical zone of the country.
Ebute said, “We feel we should be the first to come and congratulate you on your winning of the Edo governorship election for the party; for adding Edo to states controlled by the APC. We have no doubt in your ability to lead this party to a higher level.
“We are happy that the suit seeking your sack as national chairman was struck out. We are solidly behind you and we shall continue to support you to take the party to the next level. With these achievements, we believe 2027 will be a walk over.”
Similarly, a former presidential aspirant, Cesnabmilhilo Oken’oval who was part of the delegation said, “We are very happy with your leadership and we will continue to support you. 2027 election will be the greatest shock, we will cary it clear and clean.”
Speaking on his victory at the federal High Court, Abuja during the visit, Ganduje said, “There is no doubt that claim was baseless and was treated by the court as such. We don’t fear such baseless litigations.”
On Edo election, he said, “The election of Saturday is an indication that our efforts are yielding results.
Fighting an incumbent government is not easy.