PDP Convention: ‘Bloc Vote Of State Delegates Belong To You’ – Oyo PDP Throws Full Weight Behind Arapaja Over Race For Party’s Nat’l Vice Chairmanship

By Ogundele Olanrewaju

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Oyo State chapter has thrown it’s full weight behind Ambassador Taofeeq Arapaja for the position of National Vice Chairmanship (South West) of the party.

This is coming on the heels of the party’s preparation for its national convention slated for November 30th and 31st in Abuja.

A statement by the Oyo State Publicity Secretary, Engr Akeem Olatunji, of the party indicated that PDP in Oyo state was ready to hand Ambassador Arapaja the party’s bloc vote from the state to boost his chances of clinching the seat of PDP National Deputy Chairman (South) at the national convention.

According to the statement by the ruling party in Oyo state, Arapaja represents the bridge between the older and younger generation of politicians especially within the party.

The party maintained that the best and only way to get the party moving towards proper rejuvenation was to entrust position of party leadership in the hands of those who are not only vast in political experience but also understand the dynamics of politics in the 21st century.

The statement noted that Arapaja has served in both government and party levels in various capacities including being a former deputy governor, an Ambassador of the federal republic of Nigeria to the Republic of Jordan amongst others including being the National Vice Chairman of PDP (Southwest), a position he held until his resignation recently to vie for the National Deputy Chairmanship of the party.

According to the PDP statement, Oyo State has the highest number of statutory delegates to the party’s national convention in Nigeria adding that the party would leverage on that as a strength to ensure that Arapaja emerges winner at the end of the race.

“It is a known fact that politics is a game of number and your numeric strength will determine your success or otherwise at the end of every contest but in the end, we remain one big happy political family.

“We want to assure our leader, Ambassador Taofeeq Arapaja of the total bloc vote from Oyo State because we are absolutely confident in his leadership and his political experience to serve as a rallying figure and a unifying factor at the end of our forthcoming national convention.

“There are certain ways politics were played in time past and there are also certain ways it is expected to be played in the contemporary time so that party politics becomes very attractive to everyone including youths and technocrats in the private sector to participate.

“Ambassador Arapaja is highly respected and notable for his open door approach to politics which represents the missing link between the old and the new order.

“We are even more confident in the fact that Ambassador Arapaja will use his inter-party connection to with the political class to the advantage of our great party as 2023 general election draws closer.

“We want to state very clearly that PDP delegates from Oyo State are fully ready to cue behind Governor Seyi Makinde who is the overall leader of the party in the state and south west region at the national convention to vote Ambassador
Arapaja as the next PDP National Deputy Chairman (South).” The statement said.

The ruling party in Oyo state also assured Governor Seyi Makinde of the unalloyed loyalty of all PDP delegates from the state at the national convention maintaining that the excellent work which started in Oyo state under the leadership of the governor will be successfully completed in Abuja at the national convention.