Ogun state Governor, Dapo Abiodun has charged members of the State Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to embrace unity, which he registered , is not the absence of differences”but the wisdom to ensure our differences do not become greater than our common cause,” 

The governor made the charge in Abeokuta on Thursday, while inaugurating the state’s campaign council of the APC, even as he directed the campaign organisation to operate as one coordinated political machinery, with leaders providing direction, committees translating strategy into action and grassroots structures sustaining engagement with voters.

He warned against factionalism, indiscipline and sabotage, stressing the need for proper reporting, early identification of challenges and prompt resolution of emerging issues.

The Governor also urged members to immediately commence consultations, grassroots mobilisation and sustained engagement with voters across the state.

Abiodun, who is the Chairman of the Campaign Council, said the inauguration marked the beginning of a new phase in the party’s preparations for the 2027 general elections.

He directed members to translate the council’s organisational structure into effective action across the state’s 20 local government areas, 236 wards and polling units.

The governor charged the council to work for the success of all APC candidates, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, his running mate, Alhaja Kudirat Adegunwa-Balogun, as well as the party’s candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly.

Speaking further Abiodun directed members to hold their inaugural meeting immediately and commence consultations and campaign activities without delay.

The governor said elections were not won merely through political reputation or the size of rallies, but through “scientific, deliberate and intentional preparation, organisation, vigilance and sustained engagement with the electorate.”

He urged members of the campaign council to take the APC message to markets, farms, workplaces, religious communities, professional associations, neighbourhoods and homes, stressing that effective mobilisation must involve listening to the people and understanding their concerns.

“Our campaign must be based on ideas, achievements and a credible vision.

“We must reach every Local Government Area, ward, polling unit and community,” he said.

He called for unity and discipline within the party, saying the ability of the APC to manage competing interests during the processes that produced its candidates demonstrated the importance of putting the collective interest above individual considerations.

“Unity is not the absence of differences. It is the wisdom to ensure that our differences do not become greater than our common cause,” he said.

Abiodun said the campaign council brings together party leaders, strategists, professionals and grassroots organisers from across the three senatorial districts, with committees responsible for strategy, mobilisation, reconciliation, finance, security, media, youth and women engagement, welfare, transportation, digital communication, protocol, as well as traditional and religious affairs.

He cautioned members against treating their appointments as mere titles, saying membership of the council carried a responsibility requiring discipline, strategic thinking and humility.

“These appointments are not decorative titles. They are instruments of service and responsibility,” he said.

The governor charged the campaign organisation to effectively communicate the achievements of his administration in infrastructure, education, agriculture, healthcare, security, investment promotion and social intervention.

He noted that the Gateway International Airport remained central to the state’s vision of developing an integrated aviation, agriculture, industrial and logistics hub, while other interventions had contributed to improving the business environment and positioning Ogun as a leading industrial and investment destination.

“These are not abstract promises. They are visible on our roads, in our schools and hospitals, in our agricultural communities and in businesses expanding across our state,” Abiodun said.

He warned that achievements could be misunderstood if they were not properly communicated, urging the campaign council to counter misinformation with facts, humility and clarity.

“Good work that is not effectively explained may be misunderstood, while falsehood repeated without challenge may begin to appear credible,” he said.

Abiodun also charged APC members to maintain issue-based and civil communication throughout the campaign, rejecting insults, violence and intimidation.

“Political victory loses its value when purchased at the expense of peace, because leadership cannot build upon the ruins of a divided society,” he said.

The governor expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his leadership and partnership with Ogun State through the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He also acknowledged the contributions of former Governors Olusegun Osoba, Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun; former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola; Deputy Governor Noimot Salako-Oyedele; APC State Chairman, Chief Yemi Sanusi; Adeola; Adegunwa-Balogun; Director-General of the Campaign Council, Senator Lekan Mustapha; and other party leaders.

The governorship Candidate, Adeola, in keeping with the governor’s call for an inclusive grassroots campaign, urged party members across the state to regard the 2027 election as a collective responsibility.

He assured that those whose names were not included in the campaign council that they remained part of the party’s mobilisation structure.

Adeola stressed that the campaign council was established to provide coordination and direction, rather than to exclude other members of the party, urging all APC members to remain active in their wards and local government areas.

He called for sustained consultations and grassroots engagement, urging party members to take the party’s message to communities and work collectively for all APC candidates, from the presidential election to the governorship and legislative contests.

Earlier, former Ogun State Governor and APC National Leader, Chief Olusegun Osoba, urged members of the party to close ranks, present a united front and work collectively for the success of the APC in the 2027 elections.

Osoba appealed to aggrieved members to “shield their swords” and work for the party, assuring them that their contributions would not be in vain.

Abiodun thereafter formally declared the campaign council inaugurated and charged members to commence work immediately towards the party’s objectives in the 2027 general elections.

“Let us speak with one voice, work with one purpose and march in one direction,” he said.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Aliyu Farouk, has warned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, to desist from making comments capable of overheating the political atmosphere.

Farouk was reacting to Wike’s recent description of some APC governors as “lazy” and “419ners” while speaking on a Television’s program on Thursday.

Wike, who is serving in the APC-led Federal Government, has been promoting a Rainbow Coalition in Rivers State in support of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

His comments have, however, attracted criticism from members of the ruling party, with Farouk describing the remarks as inappropriate.

“I think the comments of Wike is in bad taste because the language he used to call our governors lazy, that’s really in bad taste. And we all members of APC reject that statement.

“We have a party to run, we have a country to run, and that instead of us, including Wike that tries to help the president, to be humble, to talk to people in a nice way, try to appeal to the sensibilities of Nigerians because there are certain things that as a government people are not happy with us.

“So it is very, very uncalled for someone that is trying to help us now to be insulting members of our party,” he said.

Farouk said Wike could not be compared with the number of governors currently working with the APC-led administration to support Tinubu.

“Wike is one person who is in charge of Rivers, according to him, and also in charge of FCT, the two states, and the other governors are 30 something governors, and other governors like that of Abia, governor of Osun, governor of Anambra, who are willing to come help Mr. President.

“So yes, we’re not happy with his comments, and we hope he will also desist from these kind of comments so that he does not overheat the polity. The polity, I mean, the country, it is not just APC,” Farouk added.

The development followed an earlier warning by the Chairman of the APC’s Progressive Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, that the party’s governors would not support any alliance or political arrangement capable of undermining Tinubu’s re-election or weakening the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.

The proposed establishment of state police, financial autonomy for local governments and electoral reforms are among the major constitutional amendment initiatives moving to the next stage as the National Assembly transmits the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states for consideration.

The transmission, carried out on Wednesday by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, requires the state legislatures to consider the bill and communicate their resolutions in accordance with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The provision requires approval by at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly, representing 24 legislatures, before the National Assembly can complete the constitutional amendment process.

The priority proposals include the creation of state police services, local government financial autonomy, independent candidacy, establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission, special legislative seats for women and judicial reforms.

The state police proposal seeks to establish a dual policing structure comprising federal and state police services, while the local government reforms seek to strengthen the autonomy and constitutional protection of the third tier of government.

Ogunlana said the state assemblies were expected to communicate their resolutions within 30 days of receiving the bill, clarifying that the timeframe was administrative and not a constitutional deadline.

He added that the National Assembly recognised the independence and constitutional responsibilities of the state legislatures and that the process would be conducted in compliance with the Constitution and principles of due process.