Ibadan stands still as APC hoists flag

The city of Ibadan in Oyo State on Sunday literally stood still for
the newly formed All Progressive Congress as the erstwhile parties,
which made up the party, lowered their flags to usher in the new
party.
Mapo Hall, venue of the rally, was thronged by a mammoth crowd of
party faithful from the three defunct parties and the ordinary folks,
all dressed in t-shirts specially designed for the new party, holding
broom, which is the symbol of APC.
Party leaders such as Chief Michael Adeniyi Koleoso, Dr. Omololu
Olunloyo, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Chief Akin Oke, secretaries and
executive members of the Congress for Progressive Change, the All
Nigeria Peoples Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria were in
attendance.
All the major roads and streets, as well as all the adjoining streets
leading to Mapo Hall, were jam-packed, with heavy vehicular and human
traffic.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, while speaking at the rally,
thanked party leaders and all the progressives who came together to
form APC, saying that the birth of the party had signified a red card
for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria.
Besides, Ajimobi said that the coming of APC also signified an end to
poverty, corruption, violence and other omen, which the ruling PDP
represents in the country.
He also congratulated the people of Oyo State for their support and
cooperation with his government, stressing that with the coming up of
the APC, they should expect more development in the state.
Governor Ajimobi urged members of the three merging parties to eschew
rancour and bitterness but rather work together to ensure success for
the new party in all future elections.
Also speaking, Chief Koleoso, who had recently been reported in the
media to have had political issues with the governor, stressed the
need for party members to ensure unity and harmony within the party
and that they should give maximum support to the Ajimobi
administration in order to ensure more dividends of democracy for the
state.
He said that the people of the state had not made the mistake voting
for Ajimobi in 2011, given his brilliant performance and the all-round
development of the state through massive infrastructural revolution
and urban renewal programme.
The Acting Chairman of the defunct CPC, Layi Okanlawon, commended the
idea behind the rally and said that the APC would be a party to bear.
Okanlawon said: “CPC is lucky to join the moving train. I believe we
are heading towards a huge success. We are moving together as a party.
We have experienced people handling the affairs of the APC and we have
confidence in them.”
On the issue of some members who issued an earlier release
dissociating themselves from the rally, he said the decision was not
representative of the generality of the party as other party leaders
were not consulted for the boycott of the rally.
The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in an interview
shortly after the rally, said that the entire nation would sooner or
later embrace the APC and use it as the tool to sweep away the Peoples
Democratic Party and install a purposeful, meaningful and responsible
government and leadership for Nigeria.
“The various problems confronting the nation such as lack of water,
unemployment, electricity would soon be a thing of the past,” the
governor said.
A former commissioner and PDP chieftain, Morounkola Thomas, who
attended the rally, also commended the APC.
Thomas said: “This is the beginning of the end of Nigeria’s problems.
All the problems that have become almost intractable for the present
government to solve in Nigeria, there will be an end to such problems
with the coming on board of the APC.”

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