The All Progressives Congress in Ogun State and the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, have disagreed over the party’s performance in the last presidential and National Assembly elections.
Amosun, who emerged the winner of the senatorial election for Ogun Central on the platform of the APC, accused some party members and leaders of ganging up against his ambition ahead of the election.
He claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral victory in the state was facilitated by his loyalists both in APC and the Allied Peoples Movement.
He also said some APC candidates benefited from the collaboration between APM and APC members during last Saturday’s elections.
He said, “I am happy for the result of the election. People have benefited from it. That is the way life is, people know who they were voting for in the APC.
“Clearly, when the result was out, check Mr President’s result and check mine, you will see that there are little differences.”
The governor added, “Those that want us are between 80 and 90 per cent and those that don’t want us are about 10 per cent; that is life.
“I don’t hate anybody. Truly, I wasn’t taking them seriously that they wanted to gang up against me. But if you see the result of the election, you will know that truly they ganged up against me.
“But that God in me is far greater than the one that is in all of them.”
But the Publicity Secretary of the APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Tunde Oladunjoye, in a statement on Tuesday, commended members of the party for not disgracing Amosun at the poll.
Oladunjoye said the governor would have lost the election but for the APC.
He said a close look at the figures from Ogun Central showed that but for the APC, Amosun would have lost woefully.
He noted that APM members cast 10,038 votes against Amosun who was the combined candidate of the APC and the APM.
The statement read, “We have cause to thank the good people of Ogun State for voting massively for President Buhari and other APC candidates as shown in the final results.
“We must also thank the people of Ogun Central Senatorial District, who, as good party loyalists, listened to the call of our foremost leader, Aremo Segun Osoba, who pleaded with the people not to disgrace Amosun.
“In fact, APM made the poorest outing despite the billions of Ogun taxpayers’ money expensed by Amosun on the moribund project, as the party scored just about seven per cent of the total votes in Amosun’s senatorial district and less than five per cent across the state.”
Oladunjoye said the party discovered that contrary to Amosun’s claim, APM members, especially in Ogun East Senatorial District, worked against Buhari.
He added, “They were openly telling voters that they were not concerned about Buhari’s re-election, but we thank God for the voters who stood their ground and voted for Buhari and the APC.
“Our findings also revealed the use of serving commissioners and other appointees of Amosun to harass voters and intimidate the electoral officers.”