The All Progressives Congress (APC) has set its eyes on “capturing” Osun and Oyo States after the party was declared victorious in the November 16, 2024 governorship election in Ondo State.
That was what the APC National Chairman and former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, said on Sunday in reaction to the victory of his party’s candidate in the Ondo State election, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Aiyedatiwa, the sitting governor, was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) having polled 366,781 votes as against his closest rival, Niyi Agboola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 117,845 votes.
INEC Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, who announced the result, said, “That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
Addressing journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, after Aiyedatiwa was declared winner, Ganduje described Aiyedatiwa as a sellable product. He also appreciated President Bola Tinubu for his support.
“This is democracy in action and what is more important is that all major stakeholders including INEC believe that the election was free, fair, and credible,” Ganduje said.
“Everybody believes that this election is credible, they elected APC for continuity and there will be no abandoned projects.
“He is a candidate that was sellable and we sold him to the public. We also thank Mr President.
“Our next target is Osun, Oyo States and you know we are good at hitting our targets,” he said.
Osun and Oyo are the only states in the South-West geopolitical zones that are controlled by the PDP. The rest – Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo are under the control of the APC.
Osun State held its last off-cycle governorship election on 16 July 2022 and is expected to hold the next one in 2026. Oyo State governorship election follows the regular national election cycle, so the next will be in 2027.
