ABUJA – Plateau State Governor and Chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC campaign Committee for Ondo State Governorship election, Mr. Simon Lalong has stated that victory was sure for his party in the Saturday election even without the participation of most national leaders of the party at the grand finale.
He stated the absence of the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and others at the rally attended by President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t matter to the party. Though, he acknowledged that their absence was on health ground and that they apologized, Lalong however said that the President’s presence was a great booster.
Lalong’s remarks came on a day the governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko denied any affinity with the APC. Both men spoke to State House Correspondents after meeting separately with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday. Lalong: “We have finished our campaign.
You saw what happened at the grand finale. We are not in doubt that APC will win the election in Ondo.
“It is other parties that are scared of the APC and not APC being scared of other parties. “We have come to thank the President for going to Ondo for the grand finale rally.” Asked to comment on the absence of Tinubu and some South West governors at the Saturday rally, the governor said “That was not a problem. We explained their absence. They sent in their apologies.
You heard what happened there. As far as we are concerned, the President who is the leader of the party was at the rally. The national chairman was also there. As far as we are concerned, everybody was there.
“To the party, their absence did not make any difference. If a leader was not there and he has said he was not there because of ill-health, we have prayed that God will heal him.” Lalong Similarly, governor Mimiko said that his mission to the villa was to brief the president on the security situation in his state. He refused that he had in the recent time frequented the Villa.
“What is frequent? This is my second visit to the villa since this crisis in our party started. Like I said, as the chief security officer of my state, if there is any credible threat to security, I owe the responsibility to Nigerians to apprise Mr. President of what is going on in the state.
“Mr president was in my state to campaign for his party. I extended to him the courtesies of receiving him at the airport and seeing him off as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not as APC.
“I understand that people have speculated that this means I am going to APC. There is nothing of such. I only extended him normal courtesies that protocols demand. As a governor and security of the state, if the president is visiting, no matter the party he belongs, it is only appropriate for me to extend the courtesies to him. That was what I did in Akure.
“And I have also come to brief him about the security situation in my state”, he said. On the PDP crisis, Mimiko said “I am just concentrating on the case of my party in court”, stressing that the whole state would be happy if his candidate, Mr. Eyitoya Jegede eventually wins the election.
“The whole of Ondo State will erupt in joy and it will be so self-evident”, Mimiko said.
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