The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in Osun State, Adesina Adeyemi-Doro, has stepped down from the August 15 governorship race and endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Oyebamiji.
Adeyemi-Doro announced his decision on Saturday during the ‘Osun Youth Interactive Session with Oyebamiji’, organised by the APC Campaign Council in Osogbo.
The APGA candidate said his decision followed consultations with the party’s leadership and members across the state, after which the two parties reached an alignment.
Declaring his support for Oyebamiji, Adeyemi-Doro said he had closely assessed the candidates in the race before deciding to collaborate with the APC candidate.
“I am here today to declare publicly to the good people of Osun State our allegiance, support, and collaboration as we join His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, and the All Progressives Congress, APC,” he said.
According to him, the decision was reached after consultations with the APGA state chairman, secretary and other senior party members.
“I have been watching the candidates closely, and after wide consultations with my state chairman, secretary, and other senior members of the party, we have reached an alignment. At the end of the day, we are all progressives,” Adeyemi-Doro said.
He expressed optimism that the collaboration would help deliver victory to Oyebamiji in the August 15 election.
Responding to the endorsement, Oyebamiji thanked Adeyemi-Doro for his support and pledged to work with his supporters if elected governor.
“Thank you so much. I appreciate this, and I want to assure you that we will work together to rescue Osun State from the current bad government. Your people will be taken care of,” Oyebamiji said.
The APC candidate also disclosed that his campaign would continue engaging other political parties participating in the election in a bid to secure their support.
“I am glad about this development, and we will also reach out to other parties so that we can join hands together to build a greater Osun State,” he added.
The endorsement came during an interactive session with youths and students from different political parties, where Oyebamiji was expected to outline his plans for the state.
The Chairman of the Directorate of Youth, Students and Civil Society of the Osun APC Campaign Council, Ayodele Asalu, said the programme was designed to provide young people with an opportunity to engage the APC candidate directly on issues affecting them.
Asalu said the participants were interested in Oyebamiji’s plans for education, employment, entrepreneurship and community development.
“They want to know what your administration proposes to do about education and employment. They want to understand the opportunities that will exist for entrepreneurs, artisans and professionals,” he said.
He added that the youths also wanted to know how communities would benefit from development programmes and how young people would participate in decisions affecting the state.
Asalu urged participants who were not APC members to use the session to scrutinise Oyebamiji’s proposals before deciding how to vote.
“Listen carefully to the answers. Examine the proposals and make your assessment based on the issues that matter to you and to the future of Osun State. That is the kind of political engagement our democracy needs,” he said.
The Osun electorate is scheduled to elect a new governor on August 15, with 14 political parties cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to participate in the election.
