Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi is satisfied with the peaceful conduct of the rescheduled ward congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held across the state yesterday.
A statement by the Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy to the Governor, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, quoted the governor as saying that feelers from the stateโs five zones suggested that the exercise went without hitches.
Ajimobi described Saturdayโs disturbances at the APC state secretariat, which forced the postponement of the congress till yesterday, as one of those things expected in a political gathering of highly placed political leaders with vested interests.
According to him, followers and supporters of such leaders have been known to instigate crisis in their bid to outdo one another and to impress their principals, who often time were never in support of such violent conducts.
The governor said: โThe reports I have heard so far across the state indicate that the congress went peacefully without any form of acrimony or rancour. That is what we have been preaching and Iโm happy that the players have embraced peace.
โAs the leader of the APC in the state, Iโm also father to all and that informed my conciliatory moves. No good father will stand aloof while his children are at loggerheads. Thank God all have been settled now and we have had a peaceful outing today (yesterday).โ
The governor debunked some newspapers report, which claimed that the incident at the APC secretariat was a โbloody violence,โ describing it as exaggeration.
The state APC also hailed the Ward Congress Committee led by Alhaji Musa Halilu Ahmed for the professional way it conducted its task.
In a statement issued by the party secretary, Mojeed Olaoya, members across the 351 wards of the state were also lauded for their orderliness in the discharge of their onerous responsibility to elect new executives that would pilot the affairs of the party for the next four years.
โIt gladdens our heart that the congress went smoothly and was very successful across all the 351 Wards without any skirmishes or violence against the wish of the so called Unity forum.
Olaoya said the 351 Wards Congresses were monitored by INEC officials and the security agents to authenticate the exercise.
The party secretary advised members of the Unity Forum to always embark on moves that would promote the partyโs unity instead of being divisive.
โThe claim is spurious and unfounded. They are calling the integrity of top APC members deployed in Oyo for the exercise to question. This is not good for the image of our party in Oyo State.โ
