Tensions are brewing within the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a coalition of Tinubu loyalists has flatly rejected Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa’s recent directive calling for the collapse of all party support groups into a unified structure.
The group, operating under the banner Conscious Ondo State Citizens, described the governor’s directive as “tone deaf” and “fundamentally flawed,” insisting that such a move undermines the very foundation of grassroots political mobilization that brought the APC to power.
In a strongly worded statement signed by the group’s State Coordinator, Ilesanmi Adeyeye, the group argued that support and interest groups remain critical to the party’s success—citing their pivotal roles in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2023 victory and Aiyedatiwa’s own emergence as governor.
“It is ironic and hypocritical that the same governor who rode to power on the backs of several vibrant support groups—like LACO FS, Lucky Disciples, and O Datiwa Group—now seeks to disband others under the guise of unity,” the group said.
The statement further accused Aiyedatiwa of attempting to silence President Tinubu’s loyalists in the state through administrative fiat, warning that such high-handedness could ignite unnecessary internal crises within the ruling party.
The group also condemned what it called the governor’s “reckless and divisive” remark implying that growing up in a place does not necessarily confer belonging.
It said the comment, allegedly targeted at members of the Grassroots Movement for Tinubu (GMT), was “utterly embarrassing” and demanded an immediate public apology.
Calling on national and zonal APC leadership to intervene, the group warned that continued suppression of Tinubu supporters in Ondo could spark broader unrest in the party.
“We stand for inclusion. We stand for principle. We stand with Tinubu,” the statement concluded.
