By Femi Ojo – Kabba
Ahead of the party primaries schedule to hold between now and June 3rd this year in line with INEC guidelines, a frontline aspirant for the Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress and the current Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Matthew Kolawole has met with the Ijumu Local government party executives and sought their total support for his aspiration to represent the Constituency come 2023.
Speaking at the meeting held yesterday in the country home of the Party Chairman, Hon Babatunde Paul aka Afobaje in Agrigbon Gbede, Speaker Kolawole commended the Executives for their unalloyed support to the leadership of the party in Ijumu and Kogi state, stressing that without their maximum cooperation, the party might have not been able to achieve those successes that have been recorded in 2019 and beyond.
He tendered his apology for coming a little bit late to see them, stressing that it is due to his involvement in the campaign program of the Presidential Aspiration of the Leader of the party in Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
He said it has become public knowledge that Governor Yahaya Bello will be the best President Nigeria as a country would ever have if elected while urging them to continue to give their total support and cooperation for him to achieve his lofty dreams come 2023.
According to him, he is more of Ijumu person having lived most of his youthful days in Agrigbon, Okoro, Aiyetoro, Ogidi and Iyah Gbede where he finally completed his secondary school in 1987, noting that his coming back to Ijumu to seek for their support for his House of Representatives aspiration especially Agrigbon is more or less a homecoming for him.
He further promised to provide qualitative representation and also to facilitate more federal government projects to the area if elected.
He said the Executives should not lose sight of the fact that APC has not been able to win election to the office of the House of Representatives in the Constituency since 2015 and no other party has been able to defeat PDP for the same seat since 1999. This he said makes it imperative for concerted efforts to support a personality like him to change the narrative for the APC to take over the seat from 2023 political dispensation, pointing out that his wealth of experience will surely count.
In their responses, many of the Executive members who spoke during the visit applauded Speaker Matthew Kolawole for his bold step to visit the right people in charge of the party in the local government, pointing out that without the good leadership being provided by Alhaji Taufiq Isa, the Kogi State ALGON Chairman, the party wouldn’t have been able to clinch those victories that was recorded thus far.
According to him, the Speaker doesn’t have much to do with them, rather he should hold on to the Executive Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Taufiq Isa as whatever is his position would be upheld by them, stressing that Ijumu APC is one under his leadership.
Meanwhile, the Speaker also used the opportunity to visit some of the critical stakeholders of the party in Gbede axis.