The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State says there is no group within its fold that endorsed Gov. Seyi Makinde’s re-election bid.
This is contained in a statement signed by the APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr Olawale Sadare, on Sunday in Ibadan.
The APC was reacting to a media report, which claimed that some pro-Tinubu Support Groups, had ditched the party’s governorship candidate, Sen. Teslim Folarin, for Makinde.
The groups namely Southern for Tinubu BAT Democracy, Yoruba Campaign for BAT and Tinubu Campaign Movement had allegedly endorsed Makinde’s re-election bid.
Sadare said the groups were not known to the party, adding that all the known pro-Tinubu Support Groups were registered with the party.
“First and foremost, we would like to state that there are no pro-Tinubu Groups registered with Oyo APC by the names mentioned above.
“The names mentioned in the fallacious news report are fictitious.
“The latest fake news came from the same unscrupulous elements who promoted one non-existing Alhaji Bashir Adeola as Oyo APC Chieftain purportedly supporting the governor,” he said.
According to him, APC is alerting members of the public, particularly voters in the state to be wary of the antics of these merchants of lies and propaganda who are being sponsored.
“They are being sponsored to promote fake endorsement of the governor’s second term ambition with a view to mislead the electorate,” Sadare said.
He described the report of such endorsement as “a manifestation of cowardice, undue pressure and desperation”.
Sadare said that no reasonable politician in the state would trust Makinde again in spite of the fate allegedly suffered in his hands by those who assisted him to become governor in 2019.
He said: “As a serious political party, our focus is on the March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly election where we poised to better the feat we recorded on Feb. 25.
“We would not allow any confused desperado to distract us and it is at this juncture that we are appealing to the good people of the state to be resolute.
“They should stand their ground and be ready to prevent Oyo state from falling into opposition again under Tinubu presidency,” the APC spokesperson said.